The Undertaker's Apprentice
by Zelkina Blackheart
Summary: When Vince tells Stephanie and Hunter they have two months to find a new Diva, a Diva with a difference, or they will be fired, they panic. But when they ask The Undertaker to train that new Diva, are they making a mistake? When Ceridwen gets the chance of a lifetime to join the WWE, she jumps for it. But being trained by the very man she idolizes is nothing like she expects.
1. Chapter 1 - Heads Will Roll

Chapter 1:

He looked over the papers on his desk, wondering if he'd ever see his desk again. With CM Punk gone the crowds were eager to find fault with the administration. And the fault they had picked on was the Diva's division. Or rather, the lack of it. Sipping his coffee, he looked at his diary, while wondering what to do. The problem was evident. He'd lost Beth Phoenix, who'd gone to have a baby, and Karma, who'd done the same. Kaitlyn had gone to do other things, despite trying to get her to stay. Eve had quit in true Diva style, no forewarning, just bam, done. And now Brie Bella had taken time away from the ring. Alicia Fox's unhinged storyline wasn't going well either. The young Diva's champ Paige had wet the fans appetite for a different breed of Diva, that much was clear. He looked up as the door knocked, and smiled as in came Stephanie and Hunter, aka Triple H.

"You asked to see us, Dad?" asked Stephanie as Triple H shut the door.

"Take a seat, both of you." He said, and watched as both gave each other the look that said they were wary. "I'm in no mood for games, so I'll cut to the chase. The Diva's division is in a state, and you two are responsible. I don't want to hear excuses, I'm telling you that you have one month to fix it. And you better bring in the best you can find, I don't want another pretty face, I want a fighter. You have two months to find me a Diva suitable. Or you will both be out of a job." He looked at them both as they stared back surprised.

"But Dad…"

"Vince…"

"I'm doing what's best for business, as you both put it on air. If you two can't do your job, I'll find someone who can do it here for me. Now go. I have a meeting in ten minutes." He interrupted. The pair scrambled from the room, neither looking happy with his actions. With a smile he stood and adjusted his tie in the office mirror. He wasn't really going to fire them, but he knew the effects his words would have on them. You didn't second guess Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

A week later, Triple H was talking to The Undertaker. He'd explained the situation at hand, and Undertaker had listened carefully. Later that evening, Triple H found an email in his inbox from the man, listing links to several low level wrestling websites, with notes on which girls might be of interest. Triple H and Stephanie then spent several weeks looking up these girls, meeting one or two and watching them to see what they had in them. Trips across the country, even overseas. But the result was always the same. Too raw, a looker rather than a fighter. No interests other than fame and fortune. Too many alarmingly like Summer Rae, Eva Marie and Aksana.

It was now almost two weeks till the deadline of finding someone and SummerSlam was in three days. They were at a gym in San Antonio after meeting Shawn Michaels for an early breakfast. They were supposed to meet their next prospect at eight thirty. Except she wasn't there.

"Your girl is late, Francis." Said Hunter. He looked across at the man stood next to the ring, who in turn was scowling at the door.

"I know, and I'm going to tear her a new one." He growled, well aware what a chance she was throwing away by being late. Five minutes became ten, and ten became fifteen. Finally the girl wandered in at quarter to nine. Steph and Hunter watched as Francis verbally ripped her a new one, as promised, and the girl shrugged it off.

"Too cocky for my liking," said Steph under her breath. "Too much fake tan, or sun bed either. I'm not impressed." Hunter nodded to say he'd heard and he agreed. The other girl who'd been asked to spar with their potential Diva looked uncomfortable, bored even.

"Ok, Melissa, let's see what you and Rhianna can do." Triple H called out. Francis nodded, and ushered the two in to the ring.

For 20 minutes, they watched a cringe worthy performance from the two girls.

"This is..."

"Awful," finished Hunter. "If I didn't know better, I'd say Rhianna has no idea what she's supposed to be doing, and Melissa thinks we're looking for another Summer Rae."

"There's no fluid motion to their moves, there's no confidence in their actions. I don't even see room for potential improvement." Steph said. Another ten minutes went by, before Hunter shook his head, and picked up his jacket.

"I think we've seen quite enough." Said Steph. "I'm not going to lie, that was hands down, the single worst performance I've ever seen. I don't believe you even want to be here, never mind want to wrestle. You'll never make the WWE with that kind of attitude, and frankly, Francis has his work cut out." Steph said, before she and Hunter walked out of the gym. Wails of despair and an angry tirade followed them as they walked down the corridor.

"And after that reaction, I don't think I ever want to see them either." Said Hunter, before putting his finger in his ear as if clearing it after a loud yell.

As the pair sat in their hotel room, Hunter once again went over the list of people The Undertaker had sent him. It was getting frustrating, he decided. There had to be someone, just one Diva was all they needed to save their jobs, and although he hated to admit it, the old man was right. The Diva's division was in a state, and Lord only knew what it would take to save it. As he deleted the link for this morning's failure, he paused.

"Steph, wait a second, we missed one," he said, looking at a link that he'd skipped over.

"We did? Where?" she replied, coming over. Looking at the laptop, they watched as Hunter went to the website, and looked for the roster section, before finding the person that The Undertaker had identified. The True Tomboy, she called herself. She fought against guys, and won, a real rebel in a guy's world. A profile of her that detailed her history, her likes and dislikes, and above all else, the one person she would give anything to train under. Video's littered the roster page, an impressive title run for the organisation, like many before them. But, this one was different. She had an edge, an attitude that stuck out a mile.

"Stop...do you see what I see?" asked Steph as Hunter paused the video. She pointed to the girl's arm.

"I see it all too well. I think we might have found someone, Steph. If we can get hold of her." He checked the time. It was 11am, which meant it was 5pm where she lived. "Well, I can but try." He picked up his phone and dialled the number on the website.

Half an hour later, he'd secured a visit, but it would have to wait till after SummerSlam. The girl, and the guys she wrestled with, were on holiday in the States. She wouldn't be back again till two days afterwards. Perhaps it was going to be more difficult than they thought to pin someone down.

Or perhaps not, as fate would have it. The pair were in Los Angeles for Summer Slam, which was as usual at the Staples Centre. As the crowds filtered in and it began to fill, Triple H was in the TV truck. He was watching as the cameras scanned the crowds, took in the families that were there to enjoy the SummerSlam fun. As the camera panned a group of six ringside, he saw a familiar face.

"Stop, tell the cameraman to pan back over that group, go back to the girl," he said urgently, as he pulled out his phone and dialled a number. The cameraman did as asked. "I know her…I know that girl. Steph, come to the TV truck, quickly. I need you to see someone."

Ringside, the group of six chatted and laughed, excitement in the air as the time for the show to start drew near.

"You excited about seeing him?" asked one of the guys of the girl.

"Am I ever! I've dreamed of this night time and time and time again. To see The Undertaker in action, maybe even touch his arm if he ends up at the barriers." She said, her eyes alight with the excitement of it all.

"Sure you won't faint, Ceri?" asked another, and she laughed, swept her black hair from her face and said she just might if he comes close enough. There was more good natured teasing, all six laughing and joking with each other. They watched the show, roaring as one when the people they liked came out, and all standing and bowing when The Undertaker made his appearance. Ceri screamed the loudest of them all when he won.

Once the show was over, and the crowds had almost left, the six were getting their things together when a voice called out.

"Excuse me…Miss…" The group turned to see, to their surprise, John Cena.

"Me?" Ceri asked, confused.

"Yes Ma'am. I've been asked to ask you if you would accompany me to Triple H's office for a moment?" John smiled as the girl looked at her friends, unsure if this was some kind of prank. "Your friends are welcome to hop in to the ring and have a rough and tumble."

"Go on, Ceri, go, we'll wait for you here." Said one of her friends, giving her a shove as a few of the roster came out. John held out a hand and helped Ceri over the barrier, and the pair walked off up the walkway.

Her stomach was doing somersaults, her hands shook as John lead her past the stars backstage, Roman giving her a smile that almost make her knees fail as she passed The Shield talking to Batista and Randy Orton. What on earth did The Game want to see her about? And did he even know who she was? After what seemed like forever, they arrived at the door. John smiled, knocked the door and as a voice answered, he walked off, calling to Justin Gabriel as he went.

"Come in!" the voice called, and nervously she opened the door. Stepping inside, she was faced with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.

"Oh shit..." she managed under her breath as they smiled at her.

"Ceridwen Blackheart, right?" asked Steph. Ceridwen nodded, her black hair bouncing a little as she did so.

"Don't look so worried, sweetheart. I've been chasing you for a few days, you know. Had I known you'd be here earlier, I'd have organised this for before the show." Triple H smiled, as he looked her up and down. Her ring attire wasn't much different from what she normally wore, he realised. Cut off shorts, a t-shirt with the arms and neck missing, and trainers. Except this t-shirt was a wrestler's t-shirt, not a plain black like in the ring, and the cut off shorts were camouflage unlike her plain black wrestling shorts.

"Organised what, Sir?" she asked.

"Ceridwen, how would you like the opportunity to get a WWE contract. As in, right now?" He asked.

"Right now? I...yes, yes of course, what do I need to do?" she asked, and the COO smiled at the flare of excitement in her green eyes.

"Well, let's head down to the ring. I'll pit you against one of our guys, as that's who you seem to fight, and we'll see what you can do. And please, call me Hunter." He said offering a hand to her to shake. Ceridwen took it nervously, and found herself turned around and lead back to the ring.

As they walked, other wrestlers watched on as Hunter talked to her, wondering who this girl was, and where had she come from.

"You think she's who H has been looking for?" asked Seth Rollins as they passed the group again.

"Hope so. They need to find someone to appease the fans before Punk comes back." Said Randy.

"Yeah, cause my quitting isn't really going to help any." Batista added, and the group laughed as Triple H beckoned to Adam Rose before walking out to the arena.

"Ok, Tomboy. I want to see you and Adam go one on one. I want to see what you can do." Triple H said.

"Are you sure, Sir?" asked Adam, removing his lollipop from his mouth. "I don't want to hurt the girl." At this point the guys from her promotion laughed.

"Hurt The True Tomboy? That's a good one!" said one guy.

"She'll bleed before she lets anyone get the better of her," added another.

"Guys...shhhh...cut it out..." Ceridwen implored helplessly, and Hunter found himself laughing. After reassuring Adam he was sure Ceridwen would be just fine, and realising they were quickly amassing an audience, he called over to a nearby referee and they got a match underway.

"This...this is..."began Steph as she watched.

"Exactly what we're looking for." Finished Hunter. "She's got the force, she's got the commitment behind every move. The persona doesn't take a back seat in the ring, it comes to life, it enforces what she is and what she can do. And hurts," he added cringing as Adam got a nasty European uppercut, before being treated to a drop toe hold and a bridge to pin him.

"There's so much potential here, Hunter. She could be greater than great, if we let her study under the right person, the right mentor. Hell, we could even have it as a main roster storyline." Stephanie said as Adam kicked out, and Ceridwen got back in to the turnbuckle, climbed and pulled out an RVD staple, a split leg moonsault, landing on Adam.

"You think Vince would allow it?" asked Hunter.

"If we show him footage of this girl, I can't see why he wouldn't. Where's Taker?" she asked, realising most of the roster were ringside.

"At the top of the walkway. He's been watching all the time we've been here. Word travels fast if you're a Taker fan, more so if you have his symbol inked on your arm." Hunter said, as he looked up at the top of the walkway.

The Undertaker sat at the top, watching the action in the ring as he discussed it with Roman Reigns.

"She's got a nice, rough brawler kind of style. I like it." Roman commented.

"That's true. If someone were to take her by the hand, show her the ropes, she could become something amazing, I reckon." Undertaker said.

"Not something you'd be interested in then?" Roman asked. Undertaker laughed.

"Me? I'm old enough to be her dad. And she's a fan...she won't be listening to me, she'll be too star struck to even understand a word I say." They both laughed as Hunter announced he'd seen enough.

The following week, Triple H was speaking to The Undertaker. It had been a long, busy time since SummerSlam, talking to Vince, talking to Ceridwen Blackheart, and trying to organise a contract that suited them both. Vince loved the main roster storyline idea, and was eager for it to start as soon as possible. And after seeing her Undertaker tattoo, he was adamant she train with her idol. But now Hunter had the hard part of convincing the man himself this was a good idea.

"I don't see why I'm the one who gets lumbered with some snot nosed, star struck brat following me about everywhere," He grumbled in true Undertaker fashion.

"Because you are who you are. And besides, she's hardly a brat, she's 28 and an already very well accomplished wrestler." Triple H said, looking at the other man exasperated. "Look Taker, Vince said he wants her under your wing, and what he says goes, I know you know that. And besides, maybe she could even be the next you." There was silence as The Undertaker considered this, and Triple H wondered what it was he was thinking. Finally, after moments of silence, he spoke.

"28, you say?" he asked. Hunter nodded.

"Hell, she'll probably do whatever you ask her, you're her idol." He replied.

"Another me...sounds like a challenge. Ok Hunter. You got your wish. I'll take her on, take her under my old wings. But I will do things my way and only my way. I will accept no interference, no questioning by you, Steph or anyone of my methods. You'll get another Undertaker at the end of it, and after all, Vince wants someone to take my Wrestlemania crown eventually, right?" he asked, and laughed as he walked to the door, opened it and left the room, making Hunter shudder. Sometimes, the man creeped him the hell out.


	2. Chapter 2 - Not as I'd Imagined

Chapter 2

Two months later, after a whirlwind of things to sort, saw Ceridwen finally living on US soil. Ceridwen was nervous as all hell when she found she would be meeting her idol properly, for the first time. She arrived at the arena early, and waited patiently for Hunter as instructed by a trailer in the car park. For a while, she stood by and watched as her new colleagues came in to the arena, calling to each other, making general small talk as they went in. She stood watching 3MB and The Wyatt's throw a ball around the car park, when someone spoke to her.

"You look terrified," remarked a voice, and she wheeled round to see John Cena smiling at her from the door of his trailer.

"That's because I am." She admitted. "I worship the very ground this guy walks on. 22-0 at Wrestlemania, undefeated streak. And that's on top of what an awesome wrestler he is. And I, a newbie, a nobody, am being given the chance to work with him. You can see how much this means to me, right?" Ceridwen asked. John laughed, and smiled.

"On the night I debuted, after the show, everyone came over to me and congratulated me. Then they scarpered because he came over. He asked my name, and if it was my debut. I answered. He then held out a hand, and said two words. "Good Job". I could not have been any more stoked and awestruck if I tried." John smiled fondly at the memory.

"I don't think I'm fighting tonight." Ceridwen said. "I think I'm getting introduced, but I won't be fighting."

"You'll be great, don't worry. You got picked for a reason, remember that. Taker wouldn't agree to just anyone." John added, as a voice called over to them. It was Hunter, and he came over with a grin.

"So, Ceri, Ready to meet your idol?" he asked, putting an arm round her and leading her off towards the arena.

"Ready as I'll ever be." She smiled, and after a goodbye to John, they went off. Ceridwen found herself introduced to everyone as she passed them, getting another knee buckling smile from Roman Reigns as he shook her hand. Summer Rae was less than welcoming, and Ceridwen wondered if it was because she was the new girl now. Paige, on the other hand, was ecstatic to have another Brit on the roster.

"We are going to get on like a house on fire, you wait and see," She smiled as Ceridwen shook her hand.

Finally, they reached a door. Ceridwen felt her stomach drop when she read the words "The Undertaker" on the door sign.

"It's ok, you have nothing to worry about. He won't bite." Hunter said, noticing Ceridwen was shaking. He knocked the door, and walked off. A voice yelled to come in, and she reached a shaking hand to open the door. Had she looked back, she would have seen the eyes of several stars on her as she went inside.

"Poor girl has no idea what he has in store for her." Bray Wyatt said, shaking his head.

"I don't think he'll ever let her know, either." Said Adam Rose, as the door clicked shut.

Ceridwen looked at the floor as she came in, not feeling confident enough to look up at the man sat casually in a chair in front of her. Leaning on his elbow, the same arm supporting his head, he watched as she came slowly in, and to a stop at a comfortable distance from him. He slowly took a drink of water. He looked at her as she stood in the middle of the room, her eyes avoiding looking at him. He watched as she wiped her hands on her t-shirt, and realised she was shaking. He stood up.

"What's the matter, girl?" he asked. "Cat got your tongue?"

"No Sir," She said, but still didn't make eye contact. Undertaker almost laughed. The girl was clearly terrified, and nervous. He walked around her, looking her up and down, talking as he did so.

"I am going to assume by the tattoo on your arm you know who I am. Which also means you know what I've done, and to whom. I am in no mood to waste my days on some silly child with a foolish dream. Are we clear?"

"I'm not a child, I am 28," Ceridwen began, looking up finally with a scowl. The grey eyes met hers and he smiled, with a stab of annoyance she realised he'd wanted her to look up.

"You are still a child compared to me." He said. The two looked each other in the eyes for a moment, neither backing down, before Undertaker spoke again, and again walked around her.

"There's a lot of potential with you, that much is clear." He lifted an arm, and twisted it a little so he could examine it. His eyes lingered on the tattoo of his symbol, and he let the arm drop. "You're a little on the scrawny side..."

"Hey!" Ceridwen exclaimed, another scowl dominating her features.

"But by the time I'm done with you, there will be no man in this company who will not fear you." He said, as he came to stop in front of her again. "What is your ring name?"

"It's Feral." Ceridwen replied, beginning to get the feeling she was getting the short end of the deal.

"Not anymore it isn't. You're going to be known as The Apprentice from now on." He watched as she struggled to control herself, and failed.

"You can't do that, I've had that ring name since I started wrestling, I won't let you change it." She bit, her eyes ablaze.

"Go on, go ahead and get angry with me, get upset with me. I'll change your name kid, because if I'm training you, we're doing things a certain way. My way. My rules. And no one else will be getting involved."

"I am NOT a kid!" she exclaimed loudly. "You know what? If this the real Undertaker...if this is how you really are, then screw this shit, I'd rather stay on the independent circuit than put up with you training me." Ceridwen said, and began to walk towards the door. "I'm going to find Triple H, and tell him I'm out. I am NOT putting up with this shit." She turned and walked towards the door. Barely had her hand touched the door handle than a hand grabbed hers and held it tight by the wrist. Undertaker had closed the gap in seconds and Ceridwen found herself staring him in the eyes once again, a fleeting admiration for her idol's speed flitting through her mind.

"No, I don't think you are. You're going to go to Triple H, and tell him you refuse to be trained by the most powerful, dominant star in WWE history? No, I don't think so. You see, I'm the one with the power and influence around here. If you decided to make that move, kid, you see, if I was so inclined, a word from me could ruin everything for you." He smiled ferally at her and Ceridwen yanked her arm back, rubbing the wrist with a scowl. A choice word from The Undertaker could ensure she never wrestled again. The scowl held for almost a minute, and then her shoulders sank, and The Undertaker knew he had her. "Now let's make things clear. I am not here as a shoulder to cry on, or someone to clean your wounds. I could be your friend or your enemy, it's your choice which. Win, do well in training, and this whole nightmare will be over before next SummerSlam, and both of us can go our separate ways." He said, before digging in his jean pocket.

"Wait...nightmare?" Ceridwen looking at him with another frown. It had never occurred to her that he would have been made to train her, that he was doing it as an order from above.

"Dear girl, you don't think I _asked_ to train you, do you? No, Vince saw the mark of my symbol on your arm, and decided I was the one. I have no say in if I train you or not. I don't even have to like you to do it, and you sure as hell aren't going to like me after a while. But that's what is going to happen." Ceridwen scowled at him, all respect for her idol vanished in one fell swoop. There was nothing that could make her want to train under him if this was how it had to be. He looked back at her, almost amused as she stood there, boiling over with fury in front of him.

"You're an asshole, you hear me? A grade A asshole. To think I used to respect you." Ceridwen said with disgust. He laughed in her face.

"Here. This is the only gift you will ever get from me, and trust me, you're lucky to have that. This is the key to your own trailer. I suggest you get comfy, it's a while before you start rehearsals today. Now paste that star struck smile back on your face, kid, and I'll see you in the ring in three hours." He added, throwing her a key, before walking to the door, opening and striding out, past people as they lined the walls of the arena. _Yep, I definitely got the wrong end of this deal,_ she said to herself looking at an alarmed Adam Rose and Bray Wyatt as they in turn looked at her, concerned. Ceridwen swallowed hard. This wasn't how she thought it would be at all.

It was now time for rehearsals, and Ceridwen was informed she wouldn't be seen with The Undertaker till the end of the show. She thanked her lucky stars for that, as she, Damien Sandow and John Cena rehearsed over and over for her part in the evenings show. She almost forgot how he had spoken to her, how much of a kid he had treated her. Two hours before show time, she was sat in catering, playing with a straw in her cup.

"Nervous yet?" asked a voice, and Ceridwen looked up to see John Cena coming over, and sitting next to her.

"A bit...it's a big step up for me," she said, looking at the bottom of her glass from above.

"Something wrong?" he asked, placing his baseball cap on the table.

"I think Undertaker and I got off on the wrong foot, I suppose would be a good way to put it." Ceridwen said, before telling him everything that was said. John frowned.

"Maybe he's not sure how to go about training you. With Paul Bearer gone, he's lost the one person he would probably turn to for help, I guess." He suggested.

"That's got to be it...I'll go find him, and maybe try and apologise for getting off on the wrong foot. Thanks John!" Ceridwen exclaimed, getting up and running off.

She looked around the backstage area for what seemed like ages, not sure where he would be before the show. Did he have his own dressing room? Did he use the locker room with the other guys? She came upon Roman Reigns as she rounded a corner, almost knocking him over, and ending up on her arse as she did so.

"Easy, sweetheart!" He laughed.

"Sorry...um..."

"Please, call me Roman." He smiled, holding out his hand to help her up.

"Ceridwen, Ceridwen Blackheart." She said, flushing red, and forgetting they had already been introduced. "You...uh...you haven't seen The Undertaker have you?" Roman pointed in the direction of a corridor to the left. "Thank you."

"Anytime," He smiled, walking off as she headed up the corridor.

She thought hard about what to say to him, about how much it meant to her being given the chance. As she neared a corner, she heard raised voices, and not of a good kind.

"I can't do this, Hunter. I can NOT train this girl." The voice of The Undertaker raged behind the corner.

"Why not? Has she said something to offend you?" asked Hunter.

"Well...no..."

"Something she did?" He asked. Ceridwen listened with her back against the wall as The Undertaker affirmed that no, she hadn't done anything wrong. _I didn't think so,_ she told herself. Hunter asked again what Ceridwen had done, or said that would make The Undertaker refuse to train her, and again, The Undertaker said she had done nothing wrong. Ceridwen frowned as her idol blustered trying to find an excuse...any excuse it seemed...to answer the other man's questions.

"Look, we just DON'T see eye to eye, ok?" he thundered.

"Look, Taker, I don't like Vince's ideas any more than you do sometimes. But the girl has talent," Hunter began.

"I know that," he growled, and Ceridwen felt a stab of pride as Hunter spoke.

"And well, Vince has said that if we don't follow through with this, heads will roll." Hunter added.

"Whose?" Undertaker demanded.

"After all this time, do you really think I know what the old man has planned, or whose head will roll if it doesn't happen?"

"Fine. I'll train the whelp. But I won't like it. At all." He grumbled. "Just my luck to be stuck with a star struck brat to train up." They looked up at the sound of thundering footsteps, and saw Ceridwen running away down the corridor.

"I think she heard you." Hunter said as they saw her vanish round the corner.

When the show started, Ceridwen was sat in one of the ringside seats, an aisle seat, specially reserved for her. She watched the first two matches, as one with the crowd, then waited for her section to begin.

Damien Sandow, the Intellectual Saviour of the Masses, walked down in to the ring. He picked up a microphone and looked around at the booing arena.

"I come to you, as your Intellectual Saviour, to tell you that once again, I am starting my search for an Apprentice. Although I could do better than start in a place like Chicago." There was a chorus of boos at which Ceridwen joined in. "Never the less, I have to start somewhere. All those who wish to be counted, stand." Ceridwen stood, as did others around the ringside area. _Here we go,_ she told herself. Damien walked around the ring, insulting those who he looked up and down, and spoke to once or twice.

He made his way closer, and closer, and finally stopped in front of Ceridwen.

"You girl, what's your name?"

"Blackheart, Sir." She said, eyeing him in the same manner he looked at her.

"You dress like a ruffian... Your t-shirt is missing its sleeves, your jeans are cut off and ragged. You look like something that came in off the street. But I'm running out of time, so I guess you will have to do. Up in to the ring with you, let us see if you can pass the test." He said, offering her a hand wrapped in a handkerchief. Ceridwen took it, and was escorted in to the ring, waiting until they were dead central and she had a mic before continuing.

"You're wearing an Undertaker t-shirt, so you must be a fan. Tell me, who was The Undertaker's only win by disqualification against, and at what Wrestlemania?" He asked.

"Giant Gonzales, at Wrestlemania 9, for use of Chloroform." Ceridwen answered.

"Correct. You aren't from this country are you?" He asked.

"No, I'm English," She replied. "Here on a holiday."

"English? In that case, name the 4th verse of your national anthem." He demanded.

"I believe the phrase is "Send her victorious,", if I'm not mistaken." Ceridwen replied.

"That is indeed correct." He answered, the crowd cheering for Ceridwen as she punched the air in celebration. "One third and final question. I would assume you know your countries history. Who was the first Queen of the Tudor period?" he asked. It was an evil question really, Ceridwen had thought when it was suggested. It was a question that Sandow would love to ask, and few would actually know.

"Just to clarify, do you mean of the Tudor name, or Tudor time period?" Ceridwen asked.

"The time period. Don't take all day, I have other places to look for an apprentice." Sandow said.

"Then that would be Lady Jane Grey, Queen for only ten days and accepted only by Berwick and Kings Lynn." Ceridwen replied confidently.

"That...is correct!" Sandow beamed. "Finally, someone who isn't a complete ignoramus!" He began to walk to the ropes, and held them open. "Come, let's get you backstage. We'll get you cleaned up and in to something more suitable."

"No, I don't think so." Ceridwen said, and the fans cheered.

"What do you mean? I'm giving you fame, glory, a path to untold riches,"

"And also a direct path to hatred, despair, disgust and being looked down on by everyone in this arena." Ceridwen replied. "Yeah, I'm not down with that." Damien stood up off the ropes and walked in to the middle of the ring. For a minute or two, he tried everything to convince her she was throwing everything away, that it was a great opportunity he was offering her and that she was silly to pass it up.

And then, music sounded, as one the crowds roared as the hometown hero, CM Punk himself, made an appearance on the stage. Ceridwen had no idea it was going to be him who came out to get her, just that another wrestler would come out to bring her to backstage. He came down, making a circuit of the ring, before climbing in. He ignored Sandow as he got in, before smiling and addressing the crowds.

"Thank you Chicago!" He yelled in to the mic he'd pulled from ringside. "Allow me to introduce myself, Miss. I'm CM Punk." He smiled, and offered a hand which Ceridwen took, resulting in him kissing it, and throwing her a sly wink.

"Blackheart. Ceridwen Blackheart." She replied.

"So, Ceri, I get the impression being saddled with a pompous, know it all buffoon like Sandow isn't what you're after?" Punk asked.

"No, no it's not." Ceridwen replied.

"Tell you what. Why don't you come backstage with me, we'll chill out, have a walk around, you can meet a few people, and we'll find you someone you can study under. I'm sure someone out there is looking for an apprentice. Sound like a plan?" He asked.

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Ceridwen smiled. At that point, Damien decided to run at Punk while his back was turned, and knocked him to the floor.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Ceridwen yelled, as Punk rolled in to the corner.

"Why don't you make me?" Sandow replied, giving her a little shove. Ceridwen narrowed her eyes, as Sandow beckoned for her to come at him. He stood, taunting her, before turning around on the spot, telling her to come and get him. He wasn't watching her, so when Ceridwen took him down with an evil spear he wasn't expecting it. The crowds roared their approval, and Ceridwen felt a stab of delight at their cheers as she stood back up.

"And that is why I think people will love to have you as an apprentice." Punk smiled, before leading Ceridwen up and out of the arena.

As the show went on, Ceridwen was seen being escorted around backstage by CM Punk, stopping to talk with various Superstars who could possibly be looking for a new apprentice. They tried Dolph Ziggler, but he wasn't looking for an apprentice. Chris Jericho declined too, but told them to try A.J. Lee. A.J. decided that no, Ceridwen wasn't her style, and told them to try with Big E Langston. Big E smiled at Ceridwen when they were introduced, and said that while he was flattered that she would want to learn from him, there were probably others better suited to the task of teaching her. As a last resort, they tried Batista, who simply replied that he didn't have the time.

Finally, it was time for the main event, and to no avail Ceridwen had been presented to almost everyone on the roster. She was given the opportunity to escort CM Punk to his match, and stayed ringside as he fought Alberto Del Rio. After a hard fought match, he was victorious, and with a smile he called her in to the ring and they celebrated together. He grabbed a mic from the ringside staff.

"Well, seeing as we can't find anyone, why don't you stick with me? Let me teach you." He offered.

"You'd do that?" Ceridwen asked excitedly as the crowds went wild.

"You earned the shot, you answered Sandow's questions, why not?" He asked. Suddenly, the arena went black, and a familiar bell rang out. When the lights went up, The Undertaker stood at the top of the walkway.

"There is one person you forgot to ask, CM Punk." He said, as the crowds went mental. "She is wearing my t-shirt, my symbol is tattooed on her arm. If she should be anyone's apprentice, it should be me." Ceridwen quickly stepped behind Punk, and shook her head.

"No way! I might look up to you…but you terrify me!" She said, almost cowering behind CM Punk.

"Tell you what, Taker. You want her, you come get her." Punk threw the mic in his hand down and beckoned for him to come to him. Undertaker laughed.

"You wish to fight for her? How very noble of you. So be it, Punk Next week on RAW, we will fight to see who gets to train Miss Blackheart. I hope, for her sake, you haven't made a very, very big mistake." Said The Undertaker, as the crowds went wild.

The show was now over, and Ceridwen was walking around backstage. She was looking for Triple H, hoping to convince the COO to let her train with CM Punk instead. _I don't want to train under that asshole! I can't train under him, not if he's like that. Hunter will be able to sort something, anything...hell even Sandow must be better to train with than Undertaker. _Ceridwen spent her time looking thinking over the situation, thinking about what had been said. She was so busy looking for him, she had no idea The Undertaker was behind her until he put a hand on her shoulder. She screamed a little, turned round, and gave him a look that would kill.

"Leave me alone!" she growled, yanking the hand from her shoulder. "You've made your position quite clear. I'm looking for Hunter, and I'm asking the storyline is change so I train under Punk, not you. I thought you'd be a nicer man in real life, all things considered. Yeah I know what you've done, and who you did it to. But you don't know ME, what I've done, and who I'VE done it to. I've held the guys belts for my promotion six times over, tag team belts three, women's belts seven. So, if you think I'm going to let you get away with referring to me as a little KID, you are sorely mistaken. Leave me the fuck alone." She snapped, before walking away again.

Stunned a moment that anyone would talk to him in that manner, he watched her walk off, before following her at a distance, as she headed towards Hunter's office. His stomach dropped, the words of Hunter telling him heads would roll rung in his head as she finally reached it, and knocked the door. _How dare she talk to me that way, doesn't she realise I could end her career?_ He fumed quietly to himself as he found himself outside the door. He reached out a hand, but at the last minute, he faltered, and settled with listening to the voices from the inside.

"Please, Hunter, I am BEGGING you, do NOT make me work with that man!" Hunter sat amused in his chair, watching as Ceridwen paced the office.

"Undertaker? Why not?" Paul asked, feigning surprise.

"He's an asshole! He talks to me like shit, he threatened to ruin my career if I walked, he insisted on calling me a KID!" I'm 28, I'm no fucking kid!" Ceridwen thundered. Hunter listened as she ranted, and waited for her to pause.

"He's also undefeated at Wrestlemania, one of the longest active-ish main roster talent, and up till today I'm pretty sure he was your idol." He said. Ceridwen stopped dead in her tracks.

"Well, yes, but..."

"And you want him to be proud of you, right? You want his approval, yes?" Hunter asked. Ceridwen said nothing, but scowled in such a manner that it was obvious to anyone Hunter was right. "I thought so. Do you know why we were looking for someone like you?"

"No. Although I think you are about to tell me." She grumbled, taking the seat he indicated.

Outside, Undertaker heard nothing except mumbles, and the odd exclamation. He gave up, and walked off, his mind not even remotely settled. Perhaps they truly had gotten off on the wrong foot, and maybe he should apologise. Perhaps she really could be the next Undertaker, the next person able to hold a streak longer than 5 Wrestlemania's. He ran a hand over his beard as he walked out in to the cool night in the arena car park, and over to his trailer, Ceridwen's trailer next door. What had he gotten mixed up in?


	3. Chapter 3 -At Hells Gate

Authors note!

Once again, massive, massive thanks to my buddy rembeau for nudging me when stuck, bumping my brain in to gear and generally being a great soundboard. To answer a few questions, yes, this is a total AU. Feuds between other wrestlers aren't going to be mentioned unless they feature heavily in the story, and at this point, none are. There's a united Shield, I will give you that little snippet though! Massive thanks for reading, favouriting and reviews, constructive criticism always helps! Hope this entertains. Zelkina xxx

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

The next day, when Ceridwen awoke, they were now in Indianapolis. She threw the covers back, and sat up, wiping her eyes and catching sight of a bad case of bed hair in the mirror. A glance at the time showed it was seven am. Ceridwen inwardly cursed her inability to sleep in, and went to shower. As she washed thoughts on how to get out of her situation crossed her mind.

Telling Triple H was no good, he knew that deep down, she wanted The Undertaker's approval. And god, how she wanted that. Dreams of meeting him, ever since she was a kid, had been filled with him telling her she was good at what she did, praise for how she worked. Dreams that had been cruelly shattered the day before. He didn't want to work with her, she hadn't impressed him. Ceridwen caught sight of his symbol on her right forearm, and scrubbed it a little harder than needed, as if trying to scrub it off. It was the only reason they were being put together, and it had shattered her vision of her idol most cruelly. There had to be some way, some means of getting out of this.

At nine, someone hammered on her trailer door.

"Yo, Blackheart, time to eat!" it called, and Ceridwen smiled at the sound of CM Punk's voice. Opening the door, he stood there with AJ, his arm around her and a smile on his face.

"Great, I'm starving," Ceridwen replied, coming down from the bus and closing the door behind her. The three headed to catering, laughing and talking as they went.

They didn't see, from the trailer next to hers, The Undertaker come out as the group were halfway across the car park. He eyed Ceridwen with annoyance. _Heads will roll if you don't train her_, came Triple H's voice unbidden across his mind. Why should you be bothered, he asked himself, if heads will roll? _Because you know damn well, that Vince follows through. And if Hunter doesn't know whose jobs are on the line, it could very well be his. _Undertaker smiled to himself. Vince may have given him a job, he may even have come to accept Hunter as his son, but there was no way he was going to let him forget just who Vincent Kennedy McMahon was. And Vince and Triple H had a LOT of history, and hardly any of it good. His performance yesterday hadn't done him any favors, he had been more concerned about making her stay so someone didn't lose their job. That wasn't something he wanted on his shoulders. He needed to find a level ground with this girl. He needed to find an equal playing field, and then he'd be able to do as Triple H wanted. But that wasn't going to work while she was trying to find a way to get out of this that didn't involve his untimely demise.

"Well, you two sure made friends quickly, didn't you?" asked a voice, Undertaker looked to his left to see Triple H coming over in person.

"I wouldn't call it that exactly." He growled as the two men walked in to the building together.

"Look, I get that you two aren't happy working together, but you need to find some way of doing it without tearing each other's heads off." Triple H said.

"And please explain to me how I'm going to do that? How I'm going to sit in the same room as that kid and not want to throttle her?" He asked. Hunter's face clearly said he had no idea.

"Look, Vince said we're to let your storyline free flow until the pair of you can settle down and work together. I've never seen him so excited about a free flow story before," Hunter added.

"I've got a huge fight on my hands, Hunter. I don't even know what it is about this girl that totally rubs me up the wrong way, but it does. You better hope she doesn't make some kind of rash decision to get out of this."

"What, like challenging you for her freedom? Somehow, I doubt she's above doing that, you know." Hunter said as they got closer to catering.

"That's what worries me." Undertaker replied.

"Taker. You must have seen something in this girl. Something that you liked, something that made you think she was what we were looking for. What was it, if not her ability?" asked his friend.

"Truthfully? I don't know. I saw something, I saw a…a spark. I thought we could work great together…till you and Vince told us she was to be trained by me. Call it a personality clash." He shrugged. Hunter rolled his eyes.

"You really riled her up yesterday. She was ready to up sticks there and then." Hunter said. "You and I both know we can't let her walk."

"Well, I'll have to figure out something." Undertaker said. "Or I'll throttle her with my bare hands."

All morning, Undertaker went through the rehearsals, unsure what to do or say that would make things better. It wasn't till lunch that he overheard Ceridwen, and had an idea.

They were sat, like many superstars, at tables in catering. Friendly greetings were exchanged between most of the roster, and Ceridwen responded to each one as they came and said hi, having not introduced themselves yet, or simply saying hello. He sat apart from everyone, preferring like Randy Orton to people watch as he ate. The Viper gave him a curt nod in passing, before heading to a table on his own.

"Yo, Punk, where's the nearest McDonalds? I could murder a chocolate milkshake." She asked as they ate.

"Not a damn clue. Taker might know," Punk said.

"I'm not asking him." She said quickly, mumbling something Taker couldn't quite hear. He smiled inwardly. This was his way in to that armor, this was his way past the cold shoulder he was getting.

"Alright, fair enough. How about you show me what you can do? After lunch that is." Punk said with a smile.

"You're on, Punk." Ceridwen returned with a grin. Taker realized there and then what he'd seen in her. The love of the challenge. The knowledge that even facing someone who could win, she'd give her best, hell, give her all, just for the slim taste of victory. He had his chance. Now he had to make it work.

"So, what's this you and Taker didn't get off to a good start?" asked Punk as they walked to the rings.

"Well, having your idol turn out to be a massive asshole would do that to you," Ceridwen replied as they went past the backstage curtain. Punk laughed as they came out on to the stage, and the pair walked down the walkway.

"I'm sure he's not that bad, once you get to know how he works. The Undertaker's a mystery to everyone, Ceri. Hell, Kane doesn't even know exactly how he works, neither does Triple H, and they've been working together for ages." Punk replied, walking up the steps and in to the ring, as Ceridwen followed.

"Mystery or not...I don't want to work with him." Ceridwen said, as they began to warm up.

"I can see that," Punk said, stretching. "But why does he dislike you so much then?"

"I don't think he even knows, Punk. Hell, I'd give anything to be back in the indies right now." Punk paused and looked at her surprised as she stretched her arms.

"You don't mean that surely?" he asked.

"Well ok, maybe not quite. Just anything not to be working with him." She replied. There was silence between the two as they finished warming up, and began to fight.

They practiced together for nearly an hour, Punk throwing pointers here and there as he countered her moves. Ceridwen listened to him, after all, compared to her, he was a veteran of the ring. Everything he said, she took on board. Every compliment he gave her on her ring work, she stored away to think about later. As Punk pinned her, and she kicked out, a voice called out.

"I heard you wanted a Mc Donald's milkshake," Ceridwen sat up to see Undertaker stood ringside with the milkshake in a cardboard tray.

"I'll meet you in catering, Ceri," said CM Punk, wisely giving the pair some room to talk. As he left the ring, Undertaker slid the milkshake under the bottom rope. Ceridwen inched her way closer and sat down cross legged in front of him, just out of arms reach.

"Thanks," she managed, pulling it towards her. There was a moments silence as she tried the milkshake. It was good, and she made a noise that indicated as such.

"That good huh?" he said with a smile. Ceridwen nodded. Undertaker leant on the bottom rope as he spoke. "Look. I'm gonna hold my hands up here. We didn't get off to a good start yesterday, and that's mostly my fault. I was in a bad mood yesterday. I'm a lot of things, but an asshole like I was yesterday? No. A crusher of dreams? Maybe, but you didn't deserve that either." He said as Ceridwen eyed him cautiously. "What I'm saying is this. Let's start over." He said. There was silence for a minute or two as Ceridwen considered this.

"Alright. Start over." She agreed. "and no calling me Kid," she added.

"Alright Kid, you got it," he said with a sly smile.

"Hey!" Ceridwen exclaimed, before catching his grin.

"C'mon Blackheart. We've got some work to do. I need to know all about you before we can work together properly." He said, getting off the bottom rope.

It looked for all the world the two had sorted their differences, as over that week they were barely apart, Ceridwen taking in everything he told her. It was true, there was an awkwardness between them, they were not quite over that initial meeting, but things seemed to be working ok for the moment. So when RAW rolled around again the following Monday, everyone had no reason to suspect there would be any arguing Ceridwen continuing to train with The Undertaker.

And they would have been right, had something not happened. Ceridwen was walking with CM Punk along one of the arena corridors. They talked, although the subject pointedly avoided any mention of The Undertaker. As they walked, Triple H and The Undertaker came out in front of them, not noticing the pair. Ceridwen and Punk fell silent as the voices of the two men carried over to them.

"So, you and Blackheart are managing to work together I see?" asked Hunter. Undertaker snorted in disgust.

"Wouldn't call it that. Call it learning to survive. I earned her trust, I'm doing what I need to here. I figured it's your head on the block, H, and I'm doing my bit to make sure it's staying on your shoulders. Never said I wanted to train anyone."

"But surely you can see promise?"

"Promise? There's something, I'll give her that. And she's not exactly a mouse of a girl." He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "But I'll make it work."

"How? You said it yourself, you can barely be in the room together without wanting to throttle her. No one else seems to have that problem, I might add. She and Punk get on like a house on fire." Hunter looked up at the man. The Undertaker gave one of his trademark smiles, the kind that made you shudder, and Hunter found himself doing just that.

"The Deadman always has plans in his mind, Hunter. One way or another, I'll mould this girl in to what Vince wants. And by putting her with me, he clearly wants another version of me. And that is what he will get. Even if I have to use somewhat unorthodox means to do it." He stalked off as the pair paused, Hunter shaking his head as he turned to head back the way he'd come, and paling as he noticed Ceridwen stood with CM Punk. She was furious.

"You heard that whole exchange, didn't you?" he asked. Ceridwen nodded, fuming, as CM Punk put a hand on her shoulder.

"Ceri…don't do something stupid tonight, ok?" he asked, noticing her fingers digging in to her palms as her fists clenched in anger. Ceridwen said nothing but walked away before she said something she would regret. "She's going to do something stupid isn't she?"

"I have never believed in anything as much as I believe you are right, right now Punk." Said Hunter, as the pair watched her go.

"You want I should stop her?" Punk asked. Hunter thought for a moment, then to Punks surprise, shook his head.

"I'm not about to make an enemy trying. Just stand well back of the explosion, ok?"

Ceridwen had stormed off to her trailer. So, it was an act after all, she thought angrily to herself. He was befriending her, earning her trust to save Triple H's backside. Part of her admired this, that he would put himself through something he didn't want to do for his friend. And Hunter had come clean with her about his head being on the line if she walked. Admittedly, she couldn't walk either, she didn't want that on her conscience. And now, it was a large helping of pride. She couldn't let The Undertaker break her, like he clearly thought he would. She thought about the paths that lay ahead of her. Either path had plenty of tears to shed, either path had plenty of pain, and heartache, one way or the other. To run away, and be responsible for Hunter losing his job and Stephanie losing hers? To throw away this chance, because it really was the chance of a lifetime. Or to stay, and use this shot for what it truly was. A chance to work with The Undertaker, although she didn't want it as much now. A chance to make a career in the WWE. There was a knock on her door as she tried to contemplate what to do.

"Hey, Ceri, you ready for the show? We kick off in an hour!" called the voice. Ceridwen opened the door to reveal Undertaker stood there.

"Come on in, Taker. I'm just putting on my ring shoes" she lied, and welcomed him in. "So…this is really happening huh? I'm stuck with you," She said, and flashed him a smile that she hoped didn't look fake.

"Yeah, stuck with me. You poor girl." He said with an equally false smile, and Ceridwen knew it.

"So after today, where do we start? I mean, Vince must clearly want another version of you, right?" she said as she did her laces, choosing her words carefully to echo his own words from earlier.

"What makes you say that?" He said, no evidence of the words un-nerving him. Ceridwen allowed her hair to hide her smile as she laced up the second shoe.

"Well, why else would he put you with me? I guess you can't wrestle forever, someone has to be able to take your place."

"And you think that's you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I wouldn't dare to presume that. But there must be a reason why you're agreeing to train me, other than Vince's orders." She said, before looking up and standing. She brushed herself down with a confident air.

"Other than doing my job till next year, I hardly think there needs to be another?" asked Undertaker, eyeing her warily now. His tone of voice had become cautious, and inwardly Ceridwen smiled.

"Shall we go?" She said with a smile, abruptly changing the subject.

All night, Ceridwen mulled over the right course of action. Should she stay? Should she walk? What was the right course of action? As she contemplated walking, his voice rippled through her mind. "_If you decided to make that move, kid, you see, if I was so inclined, a word from me could ruin everything for you" _It whispered. Ceridwen cursed aloud. If she did walk, he'd probably do it as revenge, for both himself, and on behalf of Hunter and Steph. There was no way out. But if she could get set free from working with him...if she could somehow earn her freedom...

"Ceri, there you are! It's time." Ceridwen looked up as CM Punk's voice broke through her thoughts. "We're on in five, Ceri, time to go."

"Ok." She said brightly, although her thoughts were anything but bright. They made their way towards the gorilla, the time for Punk and Taker's match getting closer by the second.

"Don't do something stupid out there, Ceridwen...I'm begging you," he said as she walked silently beside him.

"What could possibly be more stupid than asking The Undertaker to train me?" Ceridwen asked, biting harder than she intended.

"you're going to do something really dumb, aren't you?" he asked.

"Depends on the outcome." She replied, deciding in her mind what she wanted to do.

"Ceridwen, please, think about it..." he said, but trailed off at the look on her face.

"I already did, Punk. I already did." She replied, as they reached the gorilla and they prepared to head out to the ring.

The fight was brutal. Even though she knew Punk wasn't supposed to win, part of her hoped, part of her begged for him to buck the plan and win so she would train under him instead. But he lost, as he was supposed to. Ceridwen watched as The Undertaker Tombstoned, then covered him for the win. Ceridwen watched a moment as he stood back up and looked over at her with a smile, the same smile that had spelled the end for many a man at Wrestlemania. She shook her head, and grabbed a microphone as he rolled Punk over towards the corner with his foot.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, slipping in to the ring. "Please...wait..." She stood as The Undertaker collected a microphone of his own and looked her up and down.

"What is it you want, girl?" he asked, his brow furrowed.

"I want a chance to earn my freedom." She said, not without a tremor in her voice as she tried not to look afraid.

"You are my apprentice now, willing or otherwise. I have no need to waste time with this." He replied.

"I'm challenging you to a match," she said, and the crowds went insane. "Next week on RAW. If by some miracle I win...you let me go." She said.

She had no idea backstage, Hunter and Stephanie were watching the exchange with horrified looks, standing quiet while Vince was exclaiming how much he was loving the idea, and that he was looking forwards to the progression of the story.

"And you believe this interests me? To leave your tiny body lying broken and bleeding on the canvas?" he asked.

"No. I believe the shame of turning down a fight will interest you. _There is no shame in going out fighting, and getting your ass kicked, but there is no honor in not fighting at all_. That….that was one of yours. Or are you afraid?" she asked, pushing buttons she knew she shouldn't push. He crossed the ring in seconds and held her by the throat.

"Do I look afraid?" he asked, his eyes livid as he held her, the tips of her toes barely touching the canvas. She could barely breath.

"Terrified," she managed to say, before she found herself victim to a chokeslam.

"You get your wish, you foolish girl. I will face you. And the match will finish you. And then, I will have the pleasure of making you anew." He said, as he towered above her as she lay on the mat, before CM Punk pulled her from the ring, and helped her backstage.

Ceridwen sat alone on the edge of a bed in medical. She'd had an examination, and she'd asked to be left alone. She knew what was coming, and wanted to spare the medical staff the scene that would erupt. She wasn't disappointed when both doors flew open, and he entered, still in his ring gear. He was stood tall, a scowl dominating his features as he slowly walked in to the room. The only thing missing was thunder and lightning, and the scene would have been complete. Ceridwen stood up, keeping her face motionless, impassive.

"That was a very, very foolish move, Kid," he said, as he stopped in the middle of the room.

"Who's more a fool? Me or you?" she asked.

"What? Do I look to be in a gaming mood, Ceri?" he asked. "Do I look amused? Because I'm not."

"No, that I can see. I heard it all, Taker. Every word you said to Hunter earlier. _I know._"

"And you think this a way to get back at me?" he asked, an incredulous look on his face.

"I think this is a way to get _away_ from you." She replied. Undertaker let out a bark of laughter.

"Well you need to think again, I wrote the book about this sorta stuff kid, you ain't gonna screw me over." He said.

"Well, maybe it's time someone wrote a new book, one that's not past its sell by date." She said with a satisfied smile that her barbed words had hit home, before stalking off, seething at him.

"Do not underestimate me, girl. You are going to get hurt, and you are going to get hurt badly. I meant what I said. I will break you, and make you anew. It's your choice how easy, or hard you make it." He called as she reached the corridor doors. He watched as she paused a moment, before carrying on out towards the cars. _Why didn't I just throttle her when I had the chance?_

Taker watched her from the other side of the gym. She was working out with CM Punk this morning, who was trying and failing to get her to see sense. And, although Undertaker didn't want to admit it, her actions did make perfect sense. If she won, by some miracle, she would have to be freed from training with him. Some things had to be adhered to, and doing that in front of the crowds was one of them. He let a thin smile escape as he realized they were on the verge of a huge mind game between the two, and it would be down to the wire who broke first. _She underestimates me_, he thought to himself. _She has no idea what exactly I'm capable of. She may have spent years watching me on TV, but that is nothing to dealing with me in real life._

"Morning Taker," said a voice, and he was jolted from his reverie as Roman, Dean and Seth came in, each man greeting him and settling down on a nearby weights bench. Seth spotted for Roman, while Dean used the dumbbells and they talked.

"You going to actually take her up on this? On her challenge from last night?" asked Seth.

"I don't see I've been left much of a choice. She played her cards well, I admit." Taker said.

"She's gonna get hurt. I hope she realizes that." Roman said, between lifts of the barbell. Taker lay back on his own bench.

"She does." He said, lifting the bar to pull at the weights. "She's got a brain in that foolish head of hers. I'll give her that."

"You still think you can break her, huh?" asked Dean with a smile, and laughter from the other two. They couldn't see the look in Taker's eyes as he worked at the weights, contemplating his move.

"Oh, I do. She won't know what hit her." He said, the tone of his voice making the three men stop and look over at him with brows furrowed.

Just before Smackdown that evening, he found himself talking to Vince. He was congratulating Taker on how well he and Ceridwen were working together and how great a storyline it was. Taker just smiled and said the appropriate words at the right time. His mind was elsewhere, such as the fact Ceridwen was having her first WWE fight that night, against Heath Slater. An attempt to show Ceridwen could handle the guys, he guessed. That she wasn't totally outgunned. The thought amused him as he continued smiling and nodding at Vince's words. And besides, he thought to himself, he knew better than to piss off the chairman of the WWE. Once Vince had finished gushing about the brilliance of his idea to have the two train together, he went off to find Hunter and Stephanie. Glad to be free, Undertaker stalked off with the evening on his mind, trying to find a solitary spot backstage, hoping to find a moment to be calm and think his options through before the nights show.

He found what looked like an empty, deserted area, old equipment boxes, poles and boards dotted around. Silent, away from the noise of the event._ Perfect_, he mused. About to sit down, he thought he had been lucky, but seconds later found he was wrong as he spotted Ceridwen sat by herself on an equipment box in the shadow of a stack of boards. Dressed in black, black t-shirt, black shorts and ring shoes, she would have been difficult to notice, her black hair not helping as it cascaded down over her shoulders and down her back. Her legs crossed, her arms by her sides and her eyes were fixed forwards at a spot on the wall, as if she was zoned out from the rest of the world. Undertaker allowed himself a small smile and a nod. She was getting her head in the game, focusing herself on the task ahead. _I used to do that a lot, when I was younger. Not so much now. Maybe that's why we can't get on, maybe it's because we're so alike._ Said a voice, rippling across his mind._** Bullshit**_ said another.

"I know you are there, Undertaker," said Ceridwen, not moving. She hadn't seen him, so how did she know, he asked himself. He stepped out from the shadows, but her gaze didn't waver from a spot on the wall opposite. "If you have come to make me change my mind about Monday, it's not happening."

"In that case, you're far more foolish than I thought," he replied, stepping closer.

"So says the man that chokeslammed a defenseless woman." Her eyes moved this time and looked over at him. "Or is it all part of the game?"

"So this is how it's going to be, is it? Mind games till one of us snaps?" he asked as he moved to stand in front of her. Her eyes never left his face. "You are not thinking this through, Kid, this isn't a path that you want to take."

"You're right. It isn't. But I see little choice. Hunter won't let me walk, to save his and Steph's skin, and I can't blame him for that. Yeah I know all about that part of the bargain. You on the other hand…you could make it all go away, let me leave, but you won't. I'm not sure you even want to. The Undertaker, so wonderful in the ring…such a letdown in person."

"I can live with that, if it means I don't have to train you. But again, like I said before, I have no choice in the matter on this either." He leant on the equipment box, one arm either side of her, his face mere inches from her own. She stared back defiantly. "You should be afraid of what I'm about to do to you, Ceridwen. Are you?" he asked, as she shuddered involuntarily at his use of her name, and regained her composure. Her eyes stared back, but the defiance in them wavered.

"I am not." She replied, and Undertaker bit back a bark of laughter.

"That's a lie and you know it, Kid," he said in a low, quiet voice that was more menacing than anything he'd used before. "I scare you, what you said in front of the world the other night was true. I scare you, and it scares you even more deep, deep down inside, that you know I WILL break you, and it's just a matter of time."

"I will never be broken by you," she replied, an ever so slight tremor in her voice.

"You will. Now why don't you call off this match next week?" She smiled at him, almost as if she was holding back laughter.

"And do you think I'd deprive you of the chance you want to throttle me?" she asked, before ducking under his arm and walking off. He grabbed her by the top of the arm as she tried to walk away. He shook his head before speaking, his voice still low.

"I'll have you crying before long, Kid." He said. "You'll cry for me, you'll bleed for me…"

"I'll never shed so much as a tear for you," she snarled, her composure gone well and truly as she wrenched herself from his grasp and walked away. Undertaker watched her go. She had fire, he would give her that much. And the same will to beat impossible odds he'd seen the other day. _And that will be her downfall, _he added in his mind as he headed off to watch her match.

Ceridwen threw everything she had at Heath. Every ounce of strength, every move, every counter. Like a game of tennis, the opponent with the upper hand changed regularly, until it became clear Heath was struggling. He didn't know what to do to bring this girl down, he didn't know how to handle this woman in the ring. He'd exhausted all his usual tricks, all his regular moves, and still she collected herself and pulled herself up. Even after a superplex from the top rope, she still hauled herself up from the floor.

"For god's sake woman, will you just lay down and let me pin you?!" he growled, as she stood, albeit unsteadily, and put a hand to her lip. It was bleeding and she smiled.

"Not a hope in hell," she returned, before being knocked to the floor by a drop kick. Heath dashed over and pulled her in to a pin, only for her to kick out on two. Everything hurt, everything was on fire, but Ceridwen managed to roll away from Heath to get some breathing space. Then , she hauled herself in to a very strange looking ball, one arm only free and extended towards Heath. She wiggled her fingers with a cheeky grin. Angrily, he marched over and grabbed it, only to find himself hauled in to what was his downfall, an arm lock that Ceridwen applied so viciously that Heath ended up yelling aloud and tapping out.

"Here is your winner, Feral!" called the announcer, as she stood up unsteadily, and the referee raised her hand. Ceridwen slipped out of the ring quickly, aware her current state would NOT be able to withstand an angry attack from Heath. Making her way up the walkway, she hi-fived a few fans, her arm clutching her ribs as she went back, and towards the curtain, one last wave as she vanished behind it.

CM Punk was waiting for her, along with John Cena. Inwardly, she groaned. This was probably another attempt to talk sense in to her, but after Undertaker's remarks earlier, sense be damned. She wanted to kick the living shit out of him, or die trying. John caught her as she stumbled forwards, winching as he touched a sore spot.

"It's ok, we got you. Let's get you to medical," he said as she disentangled herself from him, and forced herself to walk upright.

"I'm alright," she said, touchily. "I've beaten worse."

"Except they were mostly scripted, I'm guessing, and that wasn't." CM Punk said. Ceridwen scowled as both men kept a close eye on her, ready to catch her if she fell on their way. Once inside, they waited while she was checked over. Ceridwen didn't make eye contact with them the entire time. She knew what they were thinking, that she was dumb, foolish even. That she had dug a hole for herself that she was not getting out of. But she saw hope, a slim chance that she would get away with winning the match, and with it, freedom. Once given the all clear, she was planning on heading to her trailer and sleeping. CM Punk and John followed her, and Ceridwen groaned inwardly as they reached the car park, and John spoke.

"Punk said you wouldn't be swayed on your fight with Taker," he began as they walked.

"He's right." Ceridwen replied, more interested in the sound of her feet crunching the gravel underfoot than the topic of conversation.

"At least think about this, Ceridwen. You're new, you want to make a statement, I get that, but this isn't the way to do it," John began. Ceridwen stopped suddenly, and wheeled around, looking at him in surprise.

"It's not about that!" Ceridwen exclaimed, amazed he'd gotten the wrong end of the stick. "It's about my freedom!"

"Your freedom?" John looked surprised.

"Ceridwen has to train under Undertaker or someone loses their job," CM Punk explained. "and she thinks the only way to get out of it is to beat him." He missed the glare Ceridwen shot him at the word "thinks" as he talked to John.

"Well, after what you did last week, he'd have to free you if you won. But Ceridwen, surely you realize there is no way, no possible outcome that you'll win?" John asked.

"I'll win. I'll win because I HAVE to win. If I don't, I can't walk, I can't go anywhere. I'm trapped here. Whatever he inflicts on me Monday, he'll make it a thousand times worse if I even contemplate walking." Ceridwen replied in a growl.

"How do you know?" John questioned.

"Because he told me himself. Now if you will excuse me, I need to sleep. I've got a match on Smackdown tomorrow, and I need to rest." She said, walking off, leaving the two men watching concerned in her wake.

The days seemed to drag between then and the following week. There was no more questioning if she was doing the right thing, and Ceridwen took that to mean one of two things. Either they had given up trying to make her see sense, or they wanted no part in this argument, she guessed the latter. So when Monday finally came, and she arrived at the arena, she was surprised to see CM Punk and AJ waiting for her. She groaned inwardly, there was undoubtedly an attempt at trying to make her change her mind coming, as the pair hurried over to catch up to her.

"Save it, I don't want or need to hear it today." She said, holding a hand up to stop them.

"I'm not here for that. You've been pretty clear on your choice. You've set your mind to it, and nothing AJ or I say will change it." Punk said. "But know this. I'm with you. I'm in your corner tonight, and I'm here for you afterwards. John too. We know what this means to you, or at least, kinda what it means to you. Do you want me to play heel tonight, or keep it strictly between the pair of you?" he asked. Ceridwen paused a moment, thinking his offer over. She gave him a smile, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Punk. But this…I have to do this alone." Ceridwen patted his shoulder and walked on in.

As time before her match ticked away, Ceridwen stepped away from everyone. She kept her distance, again retreating to a quiet spot, a place no one could find her. Or so she thought, as she sat down on an upturned crate, trying to marshal her thoughts.

"You showed. You're brave, Kid. Brave or foolish," came his voice from the shadows.

"One last shot at making me change my mind?" Ceridwen said, trying to ignore him.

"I don't want to hurt you, anymore than you want to be hurt." Undertaker stepped from the shadows, his face unreadable, and Ceridwen knew he thought he had the upper hand.

"You lie."

"I lie?" the ghost of a smile flickered across his face.

"You do. You want me gone, I know it, you know it. If you can't let me walk, why not injure me so I can't compete?" she said evenly. "It makes sense, does it not?"

"You mistake me for a thug, Ceridwen. I'm quite the opposite." He said. The dim light from the corridor reflected in his eyes, and Ceridwen wondered if he'd ever been nice to anyone and meant it in his entire life.

"Well, from my position at the moment, there doesn't seem to be much of a difference." She countered.

"Are you that stupid? Do you not realize what I'm going to do to you out there? Change your mind, girl." He said, getting closer and giving her the stare that had made many a star back down.

"No. I don't want to work with you, and I'll fight it every step of the way." She returned, standing now.

"You'll finish the night in tears. I guarantee it." He said, the tone of his voice suggesting it would be in her best interests to reconsider.

"I already told you. I'll never shed so much as a single tear for you." She replied, before turning on her heel and walking away.

"Making her way to the ring, accompanied by CM Punk, from Portsmouth England…FERAL!" Lillian announced as her music hit. Ceridwen stepped through the curtains, Punk behind her and greeted the crowds with every bit of enthusiasm and excitement she could muster. Hi fives and handshakes down the walkway, and up on to the ring apron with a smile on her face and energy in her every step. She jumped up on every turnbuckle, milking the moment for all it was worth before she got down and shared a hi five with CM Punk. As she turned to face the walkway, he called good luck to her and slid out of the ring. For a moment, she thought perhaps Taker was right, and this was a dumb idea, as she bounced foot to foot n the canvas. The lights went down and the crowds screamed and cheered. _Even if it was a bad idea, it's too late now_, she told herself as the darkness stretched onwards.

And then, the sound of a church bell echoed throughout the arena.


	4. Chapter 4 - Through Death Valley

Firstly, a massive thank you to Rembeau, my beta reader and long time sufferer of my uncontrollable imagination. Secondly a huge, huge thank you to everyone who's read, favourited and added me or my fictions to their alerts list. It makes me happy knowing others are reading my fics, and enjoying them. I wanted to focus this chapter on the fight, and very little else. Enjoy! xx Zelkina xx

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><p>As the last echoes of the bell faded, and his music began, Ceridwen felt the icy chill of fear begin to engulf her. Her mouth went dry, her legs barely kept her upright. Her stomach plummeted as he walked out at the top of the walkway. It became a struggle to breath, and she was fairly sure the color was gone from her face. She tried to marshal her thoughts, and marshal they did, except every ounce of her being was screaming to run, to get the hell out of that ring. She had made a very, very big mistake, trying to mind game The Undertaker out of keeping her as his apprentice. Now she had what she wanted, Ceridwen realized with her stomach churning, she didn't want it. She didn't want to fight The Undertaker, because, as he'd known all along, she was going to lose.<p>

As he reached the steps, and climbed them, Ceridwen took a step back. _She looks terrified_, he thought to himself. _Stupid girl._ Another voice said to have some sympathy for the girl, she was doing what she felt was right, but he shut it down quickly. _She got herself in to this. She can get herself out._ He completed his whole entrance routine, before fetching a microphone and turning to face her. He could almost smell the fear as she regarded him with suspicious eyes when she stepped forwards.

"Let it never be said that I am not a gentleman, however foolish this errand of yours may be. I will allow you the first blow. My hands will remain behind my back, and you may throw whatever you like at me for your first move. After that…well…the fight will be on." He gave her the special, thin smile he reserved for his enemies. He watched as she nodded, wary as he put the microphone back at the side of the ring. The bell rang. She paused as he turned around, waited till he was dead central, and ran at him. Or rather, past him. She went past him, and he resisted the urge to clothesline the girl. She rebounded off the ropes, came back, rebounded again and ran at him this time. Except, this time, he was treated to her using the momentum to literally walk up him, and give him an enziguri to the back of the head, surprising him and knocking his calm air out of the window. He stumbled, she hit the deck and got back to her feet. The pair looked at each other, and Undertaker assessed the situation anew, silencing the surprise of the crowd in his mind. The look in the girls eyes clearly said she was in fight or flight mode, and flight wasn't an option. He was the predator, she was the prey, and this prey had no intention of getting caught. They began to circle each other, and the fight began.

Normal wrestling matches started, for the most part, with the opponents locking up, and one getting the other in some kind of hold, or pushing their opponent back in to the corner. The moment Undertaker locked hands with Ceridwen, he didn't force her back in to a corner, he simply twisted his young opponents arm behind her back, surprise making her cry aloud.

"You wanted this match, you got it," he said, close to her ear. "Now scream for me." He couldn't see the look on her face change from surprise to anger.

"Never, she growled, and whipped her head backwards. It connected with the side of his, making him release her, before she whipped round and forearm smashed him as he stood there, blinking the daze from her head butt away. He rocked on his feet, but stayed put.

"There's a reason they call you Feral, isn't there, Kid? Do you bite as well as fight like a caged wild animal?" he taunted.

"Give me a chance to draw your blood and you'll find out," Ceridwen retorted back as they circled once again. Again they came together, and this time Undertaker simply scooped her up and side slammed her, before attempting a pin. With plenty of life left in her, she kicked out almost immediately. He laughed as winded, she tried to crawl away and get to her feet.

She could barely breathe, and crawled towards the ropes, met by CM Punk.

"Feral, just…just let him pin you and let it all be over…he's going to hurt you," He protested as The Undertaker stood watching, a smile on his face.

"I can't…I can't let…him win," she gasped, grabbing at the ropes to haul herself up. She cursed as the man strode over, barely breaking a sweat, and began to twist her arm. _Oh no…he wouldn't_ she thought as she realized just where she was in the ring, and what position she had put herself in. He maneuvered her towards the corner, almost dragging her by her twisted arm. _He would_, she realized, as he clambered to the top turnbuckle. She watched, almost in awe, momentarily forgetting it was happening to her, as he walked the top rope, and was brought back to reality with a crash when he connected with her, knocking her to the floor. Pain screamed up and down her arm, and she held in the yell of pain she wanted to release. Rolling on to her front, she pushed herself to her knees, and found a hand in her hair, helping her up. She broke free, and without a moment's hesitation, dealt him a slap across the face. The crowds "ooohed" as he looked down at her, moved his jaw as the girl in front of him took up a fighting stance, despite clearly hurting, before he simply grabbed her and dealt her a knee to the gut. She sunk to her knees, but yet again, forced herself up. A fleeting admiration of the guts and determination this girl had swept across Undertakers mind. Unsteadily, she stood, shook off whatever pain she was in, and motioned for him to bring it on. With a laugh, he ran at her and clotheslined her to the floor.

"I don't understand it, why isn't he finishing her off? He could end this match so easily!" Michael Cole asked at the commentary desk.

"It's simple, Cole, he's making a point, he's making it obvious that what he says goes, and he gets what he wants, regardless if that's what she wants" JBL answered, in a tone that suggested Michael was an idiot.

"Well, you could certainly say that, now look he's thrown her out the ring!" He exclaimed as she slipped through the ropes and hit the floor.

"There's no need for this no need at all, he should just let the girl go, she doesn't want to work with him." Jerry exclaimed as Ceridwen lay on the mat outside the ring.

"Why King? She asked for a match with the Phenom, she got a match with the Phenom. If she can't handle it, maybe she should have done as he said in the first instance and let him train her when Punk lost." For a moment it looked like she was out for the count, but then she began to stir, just as The Undertaker strode over to the ropes and looked down on her. The referee went to admonish him, but thought better after a look from his steely grey eyes. She pushed herself to her knees, and reached for the commentary table.

"JBL, why don't you step in there with the Phenom instead, I'm sure you could be taught a thing or two," Jerry said as Ceridwen used the desk to pull herself up.

With a sinking heart, Ceridwen realized she was NOT going to win this match, and with that her mind was set. Ok, she was definitely outgunned here. But she was NOT going to give him the satisfaction of crying for him, or bleeding for him. She was going to drag this out as long as possible. As she got to her feet, and looked up at the man in the ring, she guessed he'd known the end was near. Rather than come down and throw her in the ring, he stepped back, and made a gesture as if to say "After you," allowing her to get in to the ring in her own time. Once in the ring, she decided now was the time to play dirty. She pretended to look past him, putting a hand to her mouth to effect surprise. Undertaker fell for it, looked, and in that instant she ran at him and took out the back of his legs. He fell to the ground, and more out of spite than an actual attempt, Ceridwen grabbed a giant leg and pulled it in to a pin.

_The audacity of the little shit,_ he thought, kicking out immediately, and sitting bolt upright in seconds. He turned to see her crouched, not unlike Randy Orton, sporting the confident grin he'd seen the other day, and at once, he understood. Her game now was not to beat him, she had already assigned the win to him. So, what was she up to? He narrowed his eyes at her as he stood, and was unprepared as she charged at him, ramming in to him and sending him backwards, falling in to the turnbuckle. His back connected with the turnbuckle and he slumped to the floor. She began to kick him as he sat there, really letting her anger and frustration channel her efforts. The ref backed her away, and she held her hands up in submission. The moment he'd let her go, however, she ran at Taker, delivering a deadly drop kick in to his middle as he tried to stand. _Of course. She may have realized I had the win, but she's no way going to make it easy for me_, he said to himself, as he stood up. She'd done some damage, it was true, there was no way that move wouldn't have hurt, no matter what size you were. But it was nowhere near enough to make him weak. She on the other hand, was fading fast. And after another ten minutes of her fighting back with everything she had, and him defending and barely breaking a sweat, The Undertaker was getting fed up of being the cat in this cat and mouse chase.

"Come on girl, you have more in you than that!" he exclaimed, opening his arms wide. "You want your freedom, come and claim it!" His goading words did the trick, and she ran at him in fury, connecting with a big boot that he threw out. He was going to give her the whole gamut of his moves, and finish it off with his favorite, a Tombstone. She crumpled to the floor, shaking her head as she lay there, unsure what had happened.

_Oh crap_, she thought as he loomed overhead. _This isn't over by a long shot._ She tried to crawl away as he reached down for her, and lead her to the corner turnbuckle. She knew what was coming, and was no stranger to the move in question, being lifted and dropped in to the turnbuckle for Snake Eyes. She saw stars, and fell in a heap on to the floor. She lay there a moment, not sure what had happened to her carefully constructed game plan. The refs face appeared over hers, asking if she was ok to continue, the voice of CM Punk yelling to the reff to end it. Ceridwen nodded, and began to try and get to her feet. She stumbled, falling in to the pose she had seen so many wrestlers fall in to before, and grabbing The Undertaker's clothes to try haul herself up.

"Had enough yet?" he asked as she looked up at him.

"You'll never break me," she managed, making him snort in disbelief, and draw his hand across his throat. Time slowed as he helped her to her feet, she thought for one moment she saw pity behind his steely grey eyes. Then, it was gone, he hauled her up in to the infamous pose, the crowds baying for blood almost as the end drew near, and Ceridwen fell as another victim to the devastating power of a Tombstone Piledriver.

He knelt over her, and draped her arms across her, felt the feeble attempt to kick out as he pinned her down, and the reff counted to three. He had to hand it to her, he thought, she had given her absolute all. She had nothing left. CM Punk stood, ashen next to the ring, and Undertaker did the decent thing and stood up, stepping away so that he could get to her. He watched as Punk asked if she was ok. He watched carefully, eyes on her face as she mouthed back that she was as ok as she was going to be, and tried to sit up, to applause from the crowds. Yes, this girl certainly had guts. He wondered what it would take to turn her in to a wrestler worthy of holding his crown, like Vince desired. And how quickly would she settle to working with him, now she knew there was no other way? That was the question. _Once she realizes there's no out, she should settle easily enough, _he thought as CM Punk helped the girl out of the ring, and walked her out of the arena.

He'd waited outside the girls locker rooms for an hour. Still, there was no sign of her. After being informed by Paige, who gave him a look of pure disgust as she did so, that Ceridwen hadn't returned to the locker room, he decided to check medical. Perhaps she was still there. He wasn't the lightest of hitters, after all. So when he opened the door to the medical room, he was surprised even further. The room lay bare, empty. No one had been in here for a while. There was no sign of her. He scowled, before rushing to the car park. Had she run? Had she bailed? _If she has…Triple H could lose his job._ The thought ripped unbidden across his mind. As he went past a dark corridor, a sound made him stop. There it was again, like a sharp intake of breath in pain. He ventured down the corridor a few steps, and heard it again.

"You down here, Kid?" he called.

"Fuck off." Was the none too polite reply. He allowed himself a little smirk, she was mad as hell at him. At least, she sure sounded like it. There was another sharp intake of breath, and his amusement changed to concern.

"You sound hurt." He wasn't quite prepared for the level of venom in her answer.

"Of course I'm fucking hurt you dick, I just went one on one with The Undertaker. What did you expect, me to be skipping away from the ring like AJ Lee?" she snapped back. He stepped further in to the darkness, unsure just how far down she was.

"Have you been to medical?" he asked as another sharp intake of breath sounded.

"_Yes now leave. Me. Alone._" She growled. He didn't believe her for a second.

"No. Come on out, Ceridwen," he needed to check her over himself, he wasn't convinced.

"I told you to go away!" she yelled. There was a noise, he saw it seconds before it connected, the pole coming from nowhere. He simply grabbed the arm that held it, and wrenched it from her grasp, holding her arm up as she stood there in front of him.

"Did it only take a match with me to make you resort to smashing my skull in with a metal pole? Are you that desperate, is that all it took to break you?" he asked.

"I didn't cry for you. I didn't bleed for you. I am NOT broken," she said, still with venom in her voice. "And I never will be." Undertaker looked down at her, the dim light from the corridor behind him illuminating her face. He knew there was a light switch nearby and he flicked it. Harsh fluorescent light shone down at them, and Ceridwen looked away. Undertaker looked down at her as he held her arm aloft still. There was a black eye blossoming around her right eye, and her bottom lip looked swollen. He took a deep breath as he saw the bruises starting to show on her arm.

"Shit Kid, I know you didn't want to work with me, but did you really have to put yourself through all that?" He asked, dropping the arm. "You could have ended your career!"

"Then at least my last match would have been with the man I used to call my idol." She replied, not without a hint of sarcasm, before attempting to push past him.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, blocking her path. She wouldn't look him in the eye as she took a steadying breath of her own.

"To my hotel room. To regroup, rest, and plan what my next move is. Surely you should have figured that out?" The tone of her voice was exasperated, like she couldn't be dealing with this right now. Privately, Taker didn't blame her. He tried a different tactic.

"You don't have to fight me all the way, Ceridwen. We can work together on this. Neither of us want to be in this position, the sooner we convince everyone it's all smooth sailing the sooner we can go our separate ways." He ventured, but wasn't surprised when she shook her head.

"No. With my idol, my hero…I might have been able to. With you? Never." She replied, and pushed past him again.

"So I did break you then." He said as she walked away. She paused, turned and looked at him with fury, before stalking back towards him.

"No. When you have me in tears, then you will have broken me. You will NEVER see me shed a tear on your account. EVER." She jabbed him in the chest with a finger as if to ram her point home, before turning again and walking away, deliberately turning the lights off and sticking up a middle finger behind her as she went.


	5. Chapter 5 - After the Fall

Ceridwen had stormed off back towards medical, not really sure where she was going, before walking headlong back in to CM Punk.

"Where did you go?" he asked. "I told you to wait a moment, and you vanished." He wasn't impressed with her suddenly ditching him.

"I needed to breathe, to think," she lied. Part of her felt bad about lying, but telling him she'd had another run in with Taker wasn't a good idea, she thought. Punk was already fuming that Undertaker had gone ahead with the match, and had ripped her to shreds. She was fuming too, truth be told. But there was little she, or anyone could do at that moment in time.

"Well, I _think_ you need to get your ass in the medical bay, and get checked over properly. Come on." He replied, walking her back towards the room. He then watched as she was assessed, injuries checked, a strong painkiller prescribed by Doc Amann, and told to take it easy, and she should feel much better in the morning. She would require an assessment before her next fight at Smackdown to make sure she was fit to compete, but other than that, the Doc had no immediate concerns about her health. CM Punk then with reassurances she would be ok, and it wouldn't be long till they realized she and Taker weren't meant to work together, took her back to the hotel.

However, when she awoke the following morning, Ceridwen felt awful. The pain her body was experiencing, however, was dwarfed by the pain in her mind. _What kind of idiotic idea was it to go one on one with him?_ She asked herself. _Surely you could have found other means of escaping his tutelage?_ She took a sharp breath and forced herself to sit, and looked at herself in the mirror at the end of the hotel bed. Bruises and welts everywhere, she looked like she'd been hit with a truck. Yet she couldn't help thinking he'd held back, that this wasn't everything he could do. She'd seen guys decimated by him before now, and knew whatever he'd inflicted on her last night, it was nothing compared to the others. _You really are stupid, _she told herself. Then she remembered afterwards how she'd hidden in the corridor to try lick her wounds in peace. How she'd grabbed the nearest object when he came closer, and how she'd been seconds from hitting him about the head with the pole. A sneaky smile crept across her face. Perhaps…perhaps she could get herself fired? If she admitted it to Triple H…he would have to let her go. They wouldn't want a law suit, not against their biggest star, it would be easier to just let her go, and pretend the incident never happened. She got dressed as carefully as she could, thinking about how to play this card. Finally, she made the phone call to Hunter, asking to speak to him.

Undertaker had been out of bed for merely an hour. His conscience was heavy, he'd just kicked the crap out of a woman. He was a dark individual, there was no denying that. He'd done things to make a grown man cry, and he'd made grown men cry or bleed for many a year. But there were lengths even he wouldn't stoop to. As he leant over the washbasin, he splashed cold water over his face, before looking up. Except, he didn't see his own face in the mirror. He saw hers as he'd held up her arm. The bruises, the welts as they began to appear. He saw the disgusted look Paige had given him once again, the horrified looks other stars and staff had given him as they passed him after the match. And then, he saw in his mind's eye, the fury in the eyes of the woman he'd hurt. The anger, and the pain she refused to show. What dark path had they started the pair of them down? He would have to speak to Hunter, perhaps there was a way of making this good…somehow. There had to be. The voice of ill reason spoke up yet again as he stood there, looking at himself in the mirror. _You? you can't make this right, you fool. You took the girl up at her own game, and you beat her. She won't say it, but she's a broken woman. Now you make her in to the wrestler Vince wants to see. You said whatever it took, you would do it, and do it your way._ He scowled at the water as it ran down the sink, and then looked over at the bedside table as the phone rang. He left the bathroom, wiping his face with a towel, and picked up the phone. It was Hunter.

"Hello Hunter."

"You sound like you slept well." Taker made a noise of mild amusement. "That a no then?"

"It is indeed a no. What's the matter Hunter?" He asked, putting the phone in the crook of his shoulder as he attended to trying to open his suitcase.

"Can you come to my room? I've got Ceridwen here, and she's just confessed to an incident between the two of you…if it happened as she says it happened, I'll have to let her go, you know." Undertaker stopped fighting with the suitcase zip, and took a steadying breath. The game clearly wasn't over.

"I see. Can you give me half an hour to make myself look presentable?" He asked evenly. Hunter agreed, and he ended the call.

"I'm really disappointed in you, Ceridwen…what on earth made you do this?" Hunter asked. Ceridwen sat before him in his hotel suite, looking at the floor, her hands clasped in front of her. Trying to look guilty, trying to look like she felt bad.

"I guess I got scared…I wasn't expecting him to come near me, so I just…panicked." She lied. Or at least, half lied. She had panicked, but she was totally expecting him to come find her. The door knocked and in came The Undertaker. The sight of him in clean blue jeans, a black t-shirt underneath a black shirt, made Ceridwen want to run away. It felt even more imposing than his on screen gimmick.

"So. What's going on here, Hunter?" he asked, and Ceridwen saw he pointedly didn't look at her.

"That's the thing. Ceridwen has told me she attacked you last night, with a metal pole." Hunter looked at Undertaker with a pained smile, as if he knew what was going on almost, but Undertaker would bet his bottom dollar he didn't have a clue.

"Really? She said that, did she?" He asked, hoisting his face in to what he hoped was a mask of surprise.

"I know, I shouldn't have done it, it was wrong, and I hope personally, you can forgive me, but I know professionally, you'll have to let me go…" she said, quickly. She wasn't prepared for Undertaker's response, however.

"For such a graphic incident, I'd have thought I'd remember this." He said. Ceridwen looked at him dumbfounded as he continued. "I mean, I know you were mad at me, and that's quite understandable, but this is a bit extreme…far fetched, perhaps like a dream? You would have been given some strong painkillers, I don't doubt, perhaps they affected your dreams?"

"But….I….you…." she spluttered, unable to believe what was happening.

"I knew you weren't capable of this sort of thing, Ceri." Hunter said, with a relieved smile. Ceridwen's mouth hung open in disbelief.

"But I did it! I did! I can even take you to the arena and show you where!" she exclaimed.

"Must have been a pretty vivid dream if you know exactly where it took place. Some painkillers do that to me too, although its mostly riding killer whales while they hunt seals that I dream of." Undertaker said in response, making it up on the spot.

"Really?" asked Hunter, looking at his colleague in disbelief.

"Oh yeah. Once, I dreamt I was under water with them and everything." He added, thinking the dafter it sounded the better.

"Really? Are you shitting me?" Ceridwen exclaimed, looking at the two men as if they had suddenly grown an extra head.

"It isn't very often, but it happens." Undertaker looked down at her. Clearly, this wasn't going the way she wanted. He was glad, if it had done, she wouldn't have wrestled ever again, and he intended to make that very clear once this was over.

"Go grab a bite to eat, Ceridwen, before breakfast is over. You need your strength for Smackdown tonight." Hunter said. With a frustrated cry, she stormed out the room, slamming the door behind her. There was a moments silence as Hunter shook his head.

"Poor kid. Painkillers must have messed with her dreams last night." He said with a pitying tone. "Not surprised. Didn't think you'd actually do that, Taker. Thought better of you than that."

"Well, what choice did I have, Hunter? International television, and she challenges me? How could I not accept?" He asked. "I'll go make sure she has something to eat. It'll help clear the fog."

Ceridwen stormed off down the corridor, heading for her own room rather than breakfast. She was fuming. _How could he? It was the perfect way to get shot of me, no repercussions, and he did that to me!_ She fumed silently as she walked. She was so far in to her own thoughts, that when an arm grabbed hers and dragged her in to a nearby room, she went to scream in surprise. A huge hand covered her mouth, and she got a look in to the angriest pair of eyes she had ever seen, before he walked to the door, looked out, and then shut it.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he growled.

"No, Taker, what the hell is wrong with _you_? You could have been shot of me, you could have gotten rid of me, and you'd have been fine." She snapped back, eyes ablaze herself.

"At the expense of your career. If you'd been fired from here, you'd never have worked for a major promotion again. Did you think that through that thick skull of yours, before you acted? I don't think you did, did you?" he asked.

"It would have been worth it," Ceridwen snapped back, although she realised now that no, she hadn't thought about that, and yes, he was right. It could even have lead to police charges, and her deportation, but she hadn't thought about that either. It must have been clear on her face.

"Really? I doubt that." He said with certainty. The pair stared each other down, neither willing to speak to the other. Undertaker broke the silence first, however. "Now, let's think about this for a moment. You and I are clearly not going to get on well any time soon. Here's the deal. I'll allow you to find your feet on the roster, and we'll let all the shit from last night die down." _And there was a lot of shit to smooth out_, he told himself. He was in hot water with a LOT of the long time members of the roster. "Then, we start work. You got a month, Kid. I better see something I can work with in that time." He put his offer forwards. Well, it wasn't an offer really, more a way to broker at least a truce between them.

"And what if I don't want it? What if in that month I prove I don't need you, that I can handle myself." She returned.

"What part of this don't you get? Vince wants us to work together. We got no choice in this." He said, not without a touch of exasperation in his voice. Ceridwen was silent a moment, thinking this over. _He is right, I don't have a choice. What Vince wants, he gets._

"Fine. But don't expect me to come crawling back to you begging for forgiveness, because there won't be any of that." She shot him a disgusted look, one that was replaced with a wince as she crossed her arms.

"Good. Now, we're going to go eat, and then I'm driving you to the arena. And no, you don't get a choice on that either" He said, as she opened her mouth to protest.

* * *

><p>The ride to the next arena was silent, bar the odd one or two word answers from Ceridwen, and the flexing of an arm that still protested after the previous night's fight. He avoided looking whenever Ceridwen did this. It was when he got to the arena that the next surprise awaited. After telling Ceridwen he would meet her in catering when she was changed, and getting a "go to hell" in response, Undertaker had gone to change also. The air in the changing room was frosty towards him. Older and younger members of the roster alike, no one was happy with what he'd done. He escaped the arctic atmosphere as quickly as he could and went to find a quiet place to warm up. No sooner than he'd found one, Hunter appeared. He didn't look happy.<p>

"You look as happy as the rest of the locker room," Undertaker observed.

"When it comes to you right now, no one is happy. You...um...you've been ordered before the court, Taker." Hunter said with trepidation.

"Me? The Judge hauled before his own court?" He asked, with amazement.

"Well, going against the girl last night has everyone pretty pissed at you." Hunter explained.

"Is it you presiding over my impending doom?" Undertaker asked as he began to stretch and warm up.

"No...I'd be a conflict of interest. I don't know who's presiding. It's only the older members of the locker room who'll be there." Hunter said. Undertaker merely nodded, and carried on with his warm up. The two idly talked as he did so, the conversation going to other waters, such as time off, personal troubles, Hunter's kids, Taker's new motorbike. But it soon drifted back towards the subject of the moment. Ceridwen.

"She hates my guts, Hunter, now more so than ever. I don't know if we will ever be able to work with each other without wanting to kill each other." He said.

"We used to be like that at one point." Hunter replied, sitting on an equipment box nearby.

"What changed about it?" Taker asked, finishing his warm up.

"We grew up. We got older. The days where we'd have finished up smashing each other's faces in became days we'd talk about what was bugging us." Hunter shrugged.

"I'm not going to be in that position any time soon, Hunter. Not with Ceridwen. Feral suits her as a ring name, I'll give her that. She's so damn wild and unpredictable...I don't even know how to train her, I don't even know where to start" He said in response. "You know, she wasn't lying about what happened with the pole."

"But you said you didn't remember it!" Hunter said, aghast.

"I know. I did it to save her career. If she got fired from here, you think she'd be able to go on a major promotions roster ever again? No, you know and I know, get fired from here, most people don't want to know." He said. He looked at his old friend with a veiled expression. "Courts in session after the show, I take it?" Hunter nodded, clapped his friend on the shoulder and walked off.

Ceridwen stood, ready to go out and fight. Tonight, she would take on another guy, which surprised her, although she had no idea who it would be. When she had clearly proved she wasn't able to beat The Undertaker, she had assumed she would be put with the Diva's for now. Her body still protested after the beating she'd been given the night before, and Ceridwen had been surprised she'd been allowed to fight. As she waited at the gorilla, a voice called to her interrupting her thoughts. Turning, she saw Hunter coming over.

"Hey…you ok?" he asked. She nodded, as Hunter scratched his chin and then ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm alright," She said with a weak smile. Hunter looked at her and shook his head.

"No, no you aren't." he said, before doing something that was completely out of character, and enveloping her in to a hug. Ceridwen felt herself almost squished beneath the man's large arms. "I'm so, so sorry I didn't stop you in time," he said, before releasing her.

"It's all right, Hunter. It was my own doing, my own foolish mess." Ceridwen tried to explain, but he shook his head as if to say it was his own.

"I had no idea how much you two hate each other. If I'd have known…"

"Can't you speak to Vince? Get him to change this?" she asked, not bothering to correct him about how she didn't _hate_ Undertaker, she was just…well…she didn't know what it was. Hunter shook his head again. "You already tried didn't you?" Hunter nodded and sighed.

"I did…Vince's answer was to let the pair of you beat the stuffing out of each other, play your games, etc till you or he gave up." He replied. "He said that if the pair of you couldn't work together by the time your training is up, you'll be separated. But not until. And you're to free flow storyline till then."

"Isn't that a bit dangerous? Considering I'm a newbie?" Ceridwen asked.

"I raised that point, and yes, it is. I also raised the point that you were going to get hurt, badly, but Vince dismissed you as "a tough chick who can handle whatever we throw at her" I tried Ceridwen, I really did." He said. "For all his business brains…Vince is a dick sometimes." Ceridwen gave the COO a smile, and put a hand on his arm in a gesture to say it was ok.

"Tell Vince…thank you. For the compliment, and his faith in me. But this…this isn't going to work out any time soon, you know that right?" Hunter nodded his head, the look on his face said he was well aware.

"Yeah, I know. Listen, Ceri… The courts been convened tonight after what happened yesterday. You know about wrestlers court, yes?" Ceridwen smiled to herself and nodded her head.

"And I suppose I'm the one on trial? For challenging his Lordship on live tv?" She asked, as Randy Orton came over.

"Well, if that was all that had happened, yeah, you would be. But he took you up on it, and he decimated you. If you didn't already know, it goes against every written rule about mixed competition, and well, every unwritten rule too." Randy said. Ceridwen hung her head. Her foolish haste to get out of her position had nearly cost Ceridwen her wrestling career. Would this be how The Undertaker's career ended? Forced out because of her actions? She didn't get on with the man, it was true. But there was no way she could deal with having that on her conscience.

"You're my opponent for tonight?" she asked. Randy nodded. "Is this a punishment, for challenging him?"

"No. It's not. Vince wanted to see what you could do against me. I tried to refuse, he would have none of it." Randy said apologetically. "Punk is going mad." Ceridwen wasn't really surprised. He'd quickly become her confidant here at the WWE, and his reaction after her loss to Undertaker was not pretty.

"Isn't Undertaker the judge, for these wrestlers courts?" she asked. Randy nodded.

"Normally. If not him, it would be Triple H. Not this time, of course." There was a pause as Ceridwen thought hard, while stretching one final time before heading out to fight. She stopped and looked over at Randy.

"Can you get a message to the judge?" Ceridwen asked, Randy nodded again to say that yes, he could. Ceridwen nodded, and grabbed a pen and paper from a nearby stagehand. She began to write, before handing him her message. She knew what she had to do.

* * *

><p>Undertaker had to admit the fact he'd been putting it off. Standing outside the locker room door, he knew he'd fucked up. But caring about why he'd fucked up, this was an alien feeling. And knowing full well that half of the guys on the roster were waiting for him when he went in to that locker room, well, it was an uncomfortable feeling he was NOT used to. It unsettled his stomach, it filled him with unease. And then there was the disbelief. The disbelief that the court had called its judge to stand trial. What the hell had gotten in to these people, could they not see fit to let him make it right in his own time? And throwing Ceridwen to the Viper? What kind of craziness was that? Resigning himself to the fact his fate would already have been decided, he pulled himself up to his full height, and opened the door.<p>

As it creaked shut behind him, he could feel the icy chill of glares from the wrestlers present, stood lining the locker room with one man stood up front. To his left, Chris Jericho, Mark Henry, Rob Van Dam, Batista, and, perhaps a mark of the severity of the situation, The Rock who had appeared on the show. To his right, Big Show, John Cena, CM Punk with a warning hand from The Miz on his shoulder. And, to his disgust, Randy Orton stood in the position _he_ would have stood, with JBL, Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler looking on from Randy's left.

"Court is now in session." Randy said loudly, not that he needed to quiet anyone down.

"What is this bullshit?" asked Undertaker, well aware of the glares he was getting by now, and giving a steely one in return. JBL swallowed hard and stepped forwards. It was clear to Undertaker not everyone was comfortable with the idea of putting him on trial, but the fact he'd beaten up the woman he was supposed to be training was cause enough to earn a court gathering.

"Undertaker, you stand accused of breaking the rules about mixed competitions. You also stand accused of being in breach of our laws of etiquette and responsibility towards others. How do you plead?" JBL began. There was a moments silence as Undertaker looked at the man incredulously. The whole room was waiting with baited breath to see what he would actually say, how he would actually plea. He looked to his left, then his right, before giving Randy the full benefit of The Undertakers scowl.

"So this shit's actually happening? You're going to try me? What about the fact she broke the rules first, by challenging me on live TV? You gonna take that in to account too?" he asked. JBL looked at Randy, who rubbed the bridge of his nose with thumb and forefinger.

"Look, if you had left it at that, we'd be talking to her right now. And in a much nicer way." Randy said. "Are you going to enter a plea, or do we have to assume you're stating you aren't guilty?" Undertaker snorted in disgust at the idea, at the thought of entering a guilty plea. "I take that as a no?"

"Damn right you take it as a no. I'm not entering a plea, I'm not even entertaining this circus." With that, he turned to leave. In seconds the attending wrestlers blocked his path. He glared round at everyone who stood in his way, CM Punk foremost, looking like he wanted to deck Undertaker right there and then. Randy watched on as Undertaker held up his hands in a submissive gesture. It was clear he would not be allowed to leave till his sentence had been passed. Undertaker stepped back, and turned to face Randy with a scowl.

"So. Do you want to enter a plea?" asked Randy. He wasn't liking this whole being judge thing, it was clear. Undertaker wondered if he would try to get out of making a decision on his punishment as a result.

"As it seems I have no choice. I enter not guilty, due to provocation." He said. "After doing that on live TV, what did you expect?" He wasn't going to let on the fact that Ceridwen had displayed either bravery or stupidity, he still wasn't sure which, in refusing to back down, even after he'd almost threatened her. Those words between them…they were for between them and between them only.

"Bullshit! You could have walked away, called the match off at any time!" Punk exploded. "And don't give me the bullshit that it's mostly storyline, I know free flow when I see it!"

"Punk, calm the hell down, or you'll be removed from the room," Randy scowled. "Now, we all know what we saw. We saw you, all six foot ten, 290 IB of you, take on Feral. We saw you attack her time and time over, using moves that would have had lesser men bleeding and screaming. Laughing at her defense. You're lucky you aren't fired, but I think that's more to do with Vince's eyes on Ceridwen than on you. As a judge, it's my duty to hand out the right punishment. Personally, I want to strip you of your next title shot, but that's not my call. I want to ban you from the locker room, and make you pay her airfare, hotel bills and food for the next two years. I want to throw you in triple handicap matches, make you compete every single night till I feel you repaid your debt. But I can't." Undertaker smiled smugly, while sounds of protest began to sound from the others gathered. _He doesn't have the balls to hand out a punishment that severe,_ Undertaker thought to himself. Randy held up a hand for quiet, and the wrestlers present fell silent. "I can't do any of those things, not because I don't want to. I spoke to Ceridwen today, before you guys made me judge. She asked me to get a message to whoever was presiding. She begged for leniency." He said. The locker room erupted once again, unhappy at the turn of events and shocked that after everything she had gone through, she would ask for leniency. Randy put his hand in his pocket, pulling a piece of paper from within, and began to read. _"I beg for leniency on his behalf. He would never, ever have done what he did if I hadn't challenged him. It's all my fault, no one else's. If anyone is to be punished, by whatever means, let it be me. Throw me against your worst, throw me against your toughest. He's given me a month to prove myself before my training starts. Let it be my time to deal with whatever punishment he's dealt. That way, I can at least put a little of it right." _ Randy finished. Undertaker looked at him surprised, and gestured for the piece of paper. It was definitely her writing, he thought as he looked it over.

"So…now what?" asked The Rock. "You're gonna let him get away without the punishment he deserves?"

"No, no he's not," Undertaker said, surprising everyone. "Are you, Randy?"

"No. I'm adjourning this meeting for an hour, so I can decide what to do. During this time, Taker, you are to go nowhere near the girl. Do you understand me?"

"Perfectly. I will wait in my trailer, until one of you comes to collect me, how's that?" Undertaker smiled.

"This meeting is adjourned." Randy said, and with that the locker room broke in to low talking and muttering.

"You are one lucky bastard, Taker. If Ceridwen has enough respect for you left in her heart to ask for leniency," Big Show said, shaking his head. Undertaker looked down at the paper.

"I know." He replied, before leaving the locker room, the muttering turning to complaining and talking aloud the moment he left.

His plan had been to do as he'd suggested. He'd planned to just head back to his trailer, and wait for someone to come get him, someone who'd probably give him a ride back to the hotel, and the trailer would go on to the next venue. Except, when he got there, there was a figure sat waiting on the step. He groaned inwardly as he realised exactly who it was.

"What the hell are you doing here, Kid?" he growled, looking round.

"Don't think I forgive you, but I had to see what the court said," she began, but Taker promptly manhandled her in to the shadows.

"If the court see you talking to me, they will hang, draw and quarter me," he hissed. "I've been told to stay away from you while they decide my punishment."

"They haven't decided yet?" she asked surprised. Taker took a moment to register the fact that this wasn't the Ceridwen he was used to dealing with. He ran a hand through his hair before speaking.

"No, they haven't. Get your ass back to the hotel, Kid, before you land me in more trouble." He said.

"Alright. But the moment you find out, tell me," she urged, before running off in to the darkness and shadow between the buses. Taker watched her go, and allowed himself a little smile. She'd shown him a little of her true self just then, a little of the real her. The girl that idolized him, instead of the girl who hated him. He opened the door and stepped on the bus, wondering if there would ever be a time that she would get on with him, and they would see the real her. He very much doubted it would be any time soon.

As she ran off in to the shadows, the horrible feeling she was to blame intensified. Would her plea for leniency be heard? Would they let her take on what she felt was her fair share of the punishment? Not that she wanted to for the sake of being nice, hell no, she couldn't stand this man. But…it wasn't his fault, she had challenged him. She had gotten them in to the fight, and hadn't been smart enough to see the consequences, which Undertaker was now having to deal with instead of her. She needed a chance to make it right. Ceridwen rounded the corner to where her ride was waiting, to find CM Punk stood outside. He had a face like thunder, his scowl intensified as she approached, alerted by the crunch of gravel underfoot.

"Are you…ok?" she asked. Punk bit his lip, trying to hold back whatever he wanted to say. But his resolve wasn't strong enough, as he let it loose.

"What's wrong with you, Ceri?" he asked. "After everything he did, everything you said…you asked for _leniency!_?" he exploded.

"Wait…you know about that?" she managed, not liking this side of her friend that she was now seeing.

"Of course I know. The whole court knows. Just because you idolize him, does not mean you have to take his punishment instead!"

"He would never have done it if I didn't challenge him, don't you get it? I forced his hand, it was my mistake to challenge him in the first place. If anyone should be punished it should be ME!" she exclaimed. Punk laughed aloud, running a hand through his hair.

"God damn it, Ceridwen! I've been there for you up till now, but if you're going to be so damn stupid about this, I don't want to know." He said, before turning around and getting in his car.

"What the hell do you mean "stupid?"" she asked as he slammed the door. "Punk, stop it, this isn't you, this isn't you at all."

"I won't watch from the side while you and Taker beat the shit out of each other. I want nothing more to do with the situation. Nothing!" He yelled, before winding up the window, and driving off.

"Punk, wait!" Ceridwen yelled, giving chase a moment, and then stopping as he left the arena car park. There was no way she was going to get back to the hotel without him. And she didn't even know a local taxi firm. "Oh balls."

"Sounds like you could do with a lift," said a voice, and she span round to see Roman stood with Seth and Dean. They had seen the whole thing, judging by the look on their faces, but were gracious enough not to comment on it.

"Would you mind?" Ceridwen asked, feeling awkward about asking the three guys for help. "I don't want to be a pain in the ass."

"No worries. Rome has room in the car, don't you, Rome?" Dean said with a thumb gesture towards Roman.

"Anything for a lady," He said with a smile.

"You clearly don't know me well enough, Mr Reigns. I'm no lady." Ceridwen laughed as Seth took her bag from her back, and escorted her between him and Roman to the car in question.

* * *

><p>Ceridwen was now alone in her hotel room. The bed was comfy, the pillows soft. Fresh PJ's of a Roman Reigns t-shirt and a pair of shorts should have made her feel at home and let her drift off to a comfortable sleep, but her mind would not let her sleep. So great was her fear that the Undertaker would be forced out of his profession because of her stupid little mistake, she couldn't sleep. And yet, at the same time, she knew she should be so, so angry with him, so mad that he actually did it, that he in a fashion beat her up. She should be furious to the point of wanting to castrate him, or whatever hideous punishment she could think of. But the fear it was her actions that could cost him his job was negating that feeling by a mile off. Her one fear was that he would be fired because of her was running rampant, destroying all attempts to think straight. She rolled over, trying to get comfortable, but couldn't. The pillows that were so soft moments ago now seemed hard and uninviting, the bed like a slab of rock. The pillows got flung off the bed and became acquainted with the floor, the blanket following moments later. Still, her thoughts would not let her settle. She sat, knees bunched up to her chest, against the headboard of the bed. So deep in thought, nothing would have disturbed her, and she knew she would be lucky to get any sleep. So when the door knocked, she was surprised. No one was supposed to come talk to her, everyone was letting her be alone to recover from her ordeal with Taker. She frowned, the door knocked again. Padding to the door, she was surprised to see Undertaker through the spy hole. Opening the door the slightest bit, she looked up at the man as he stood there.<p>

"Hey Kid," He managed to crack a small smile. Ceridwen frowned at the purple bruising beginning to make its presence known.

"What happened?" She asked, opening the door and letting him in. She mused on the fact that just that morning she would have told him to fuck off as he turned to face her. She scowled, looking him up and down. He wore a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, but he couldn't hide the angry welts and red marks, the bruises beginning to show. There was the faintest trace of a nosebleed, and his lip had been bleeding. "What happened to you?"

"Court Justice." He said, sitting on the bed and wincing a little. "They let CM Punk give me the beating I gave you. I'd never have handed out a sentence like this, but I guess what I did was kinda a different level from stuff people have done in the past." He looked up at Ceridwen who now stood boiling over in rage in front of him. She looked down at the floor, a hand to her forehead, thinking.

"This is not what I meant when I asked for leniency." She said, a voice like ice coming from her lips that The Undertaker was thoroughly unaccustomed to.

"You're starting to sound like you care, Kid," He said, making her look up.

"This changes nothing. I'm still pissed at you." She gave him a half glare, and dropped it moments later as she just couldn't keep it up. When he looked like he'd been put through hell, it wasn't fair of her to be mad at him.

"As you have every right to be." He said. She looked him up and down, trying to decide on her course of action. Should she be angry _at _him, or angry _for_ him?

"Damn it to hell!" she exclaimed, running a frustrated hand through her hair. She couldn't be mad at him, she realised.

"I was thinking of words a lot stronger than that," Undertaker said with a level voice, as if he was controlling his anger himself.

"Ok, first thing tomorrow, I am finding whoever presided and wringing the fuckers neck. Then CM Punk's, I was already pissed off with the dick, now I'm furious."

"Punk pissed you off? I thought you two were thick as thieves." Taker observed, surprised at the revelation.

"Yeah. _Were._ Not anymore." She replied, and explained what had happened after she'd spoken to him. He listened, and shook his head.

"Well, that makes sense. See, he had a pop at me, too, accused me of brainwashing you, of turning you against him, using the fact I am….was…your idol to get you to ask for them to go easy on me." He explained.

"Then maybe I need to have a word with Punk first. Once this mess is sorted, we can go back to hating the hell out of each other." Ceridwen decided. Undertaker laughed aloud.

"hah! And why the sudden change of heart?" he asked.

"That's easy. No one gets to punch my idol in the face except for me." She said, flashing him an evil grin.

"You know, it scares me to say it, you're more like me than I realised," Undertaker said, and Ceridwen could see it had taken him a lot of guts to voice his thoughts. "Perhaps we can work a truce after all, after the month I said to let all this die down." Ceridwen stood and thought for a moment. It would give them both time to heal, and perhaps she could prove she didn't need him. And yes, there was the chance she could learn a thing or two. If she didn't want to kill him first.

"Perhaps. After all, it only has to last till Summerslam."


End file.
